Holding on to you
by JRMLEVAZ
Summary: Bella left Forks and built a new life, but when she forced to return she learns that nothing worked out the way she though it would. Friends have become enemies and the people she though hated her are now turning to her for help. Can she repair the damage that she never meant to cause before it is to late? Or will her return make everything worse?
1. Chapter 1

_** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended**_

A/N: For this story Eclipse and Breaking dawn never happened. Bella never jumped of the cliff, so the Cullen's never came back. The pack caught Victoria. I also made Jake, Quil, and Embry the same age as Bella (18). Paul, Leah, Jared (19). Sam (20) Seth, Brady, Colin (16). Also this in not beta'd so all the mistakes are mine.

**Prologue **

The shrill sound of her cell phone ringing bounced around the cab of the truck. Bella squeezed her hands tighter on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning white. As soon as the cab fell silent, she released her hands and took a deep breathe. Her eyes flickered to the black duffle laying in the seat next to her. She was making the right choice, she had to leave. She couldn't stay in Forks anymore. It held to many memories, memories that she just couldn't deal with. She noticed a white corner that appeared to a piece of paper sticking out of the side pocket.

She leaned across the cab, as soon as her fingers grabbed the edge she knew it was a picture. Flipping it over she froze, her breathe caught in her throat, her eyes grew blurry. It was them, the whole pack, hanging out on first beach. It was one of the few times she could remember them all being together, all happy, before everything got so screwed up. Before she screwed it all up again. Her eyes scanned across all the smiling faces before landing on his.

She stared at his black hair, tan skin, black eyes. Her eyes closed as her head fell back on to the seat. She could feel his warm hands on her side, taste him on her lips, and smell him all around her. For a moment her resolve broke, she wanted to go back. She wanted to turn around and have faith that it would all work out. She wanted to go back, wrap her arms around him and never let him go.

The sound of her phone flooded the cab of her truck again. She opened her eyes to glance down at the screen, as soon as she saw his name the tears fell from her eyes. She knew that if she answered he would talk her into coming back. He would tell her that everything was going to be ok. He would forgive her. He would fight for her. She looked back at the picture in her hands, running her thumb over him. They were all so happy now, carefree. They looked like the group of kids that they were, not the protectors of the tribe with the weight of the world on their shoulders.

She couldn't answer. She couldn't go back. She couldn't take that away from them, they deserved to be happy, and they deserved to be carefree. He deserved more, he deserved his family, his pack. She couldn't take that from him. She took a deep breathe, she was making the right choice. Sure it would be hard on all of them but in the end it was better than her staying there. It was better than her tearing them apart again. She couldn't do that, she wouldn't do that, not again. She clipped the picture to her visor to remind her why she was leaving. To remind her she was doing the right thing.

She wiped the tears from her cheek before starting her truck. She took another deep breathe before inching the truck to the edge of the gas station parking lot. She flicked her blinker, to make a left a turn when her phone started screaming again. Without looking at who it was she reached over pushed the button the, watching the screen go black before dropping it back to the seat Charlie knew where she was going and that was all the matters. Pulling out of the parking lot she headed towards the I- 90E, towards her new life.


	2. Chapter 2

_** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended**_

_Warning: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be drinking (alcohol), strong language, and sexual situations. Please remember that this is a story and does not reflect my personal views or opinions. _

A/N: Sorry this is a short chapter, but I had to get Bella back to forks. But now that she is back the fun can start..

Chapter 1

4 years later...

Bella jerked the wheel of her car to the left, slammed on the breaks and threw open the door. She dropped to her knees at the edge of the forest, and emptied the bile that had been building in her stomach since she passed the first "Forks 45 miles" sign. She clinched her eyes closed as her stomach churned. She couldn't do this, she never should have come back here. Her stomach clinched, she gaged, her mind churned with all the what ifs.

"Here" She opened her eyes slowly to a water bottle shaking in front of her. She grabbed the bottle, filled her mouth with the cold water, before spitting it out on the ground. She took a deep breath before standing up slowly.

"Thanks"

She turned meeting the bright green eyes, of her best friend Liz. She watched as Liz shrugged her shoulders "That's what I'm here for. Besides I'm surprised you held it in that long"

"Yeah well..." Bella looked at the ground, her hands clenched around the water bottle "Liz I can't…"

"Stop right there I know what you are going to say, and it is not happening"

She looked up at her best friend "It's harder"

Liz threw her hands up "I said stop. Do not go down that road, because if you do we will be standing here for days while you question yourself in circles" Bella watched as Liz stepped closer, an put her hands on her shoulders "You knew it was going to be hard."

Bella's eyes looked over her friends shoulder to the two car seats, barely visible in the back seat of the car "What…. What about them?"

"What about them Iz? We have a plan everything will be fine" Liz turned back towards the car "Come on, I'll drive"

Bella watched as her best friend walked back to the car, opened the driver side door and climb in. She took another deep breathe before heading towards the car. Liz was right, she could do this. She would stick to the plan, make it through the next 10 days. Then she could go back to Florida and everything would be back to normal. She opened the passenger door and climbed into the car.

She looked into the back seat, to see that the twins were still sleeping as Liz pulled the car back out on to the road. She turned back to stare out the window just as they passed the Welcome to Forks sign. Her stomach churned and she closed her eyes "I just hope the plan works"

"Why wouldn't it?"

"Lots of reasons"

"Like?"

"They know he lives there, Abby will ask questions." She wiped her hands on her legs trying to get rid of the sweat "Forks is a small town. Everybody knows everything in a small town"

She heard the crunching of gravel, then the car came to a stop. She opened her eyes and saw the small white house. The house she drove away from 4 years ago, her stomach clinched and her heart pounded. She felt something touch her hand, she looked down and saw that it was Liz's hand. She grabbed it - held it with everything she had" So we will amend the plan if we have to, everything is going to be fine"

She looked up at her best friend "I just can't go through everything again."

"And you won't. You are going to spend the next 10 days with your Dad. Everything and Everyone else doesn't matter. As for the rest of it, we will deal with it if we have to"

Bella leaned across the console and hugged Liz "Thank you for coming. I couldn't do this without you" Liz was her rock, she was strong, focus and determined. She was also the only person who knew the whole story of why she left. She wasn't totally sure that she could make it through the next 10 days, but with her best friends by her side she felt like she had a better chance.

Liz hugged her back "That's what I'm here for, besides who else is going to save you from yourself" For the first time since she had loaded up the car 3 days ago Bella laughed. Because if anybody could save her from herself it was Liz. She pulled back from her friend and looked in the back seat, the twins were still sleeping. She stared at them, she wasn't the same person she was when she left 4 years ago. She was stronger, they made her stronger. She would hold it together, because she didn't have a choice. They needed her and they were the only ones that mattered.

She turned, threw the door of the car open and stepped out. "Alright let's do this"

She heard Liz laughing behind her "There's the Iz I know and love"


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer__: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Warning: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be drinking (alcohol), strong language, and sexual situations. Please remember that this is a story and does not reflect my personal views or opinions. _

A/N: Pack mind is in Italics. Alpha commands are underlined, hopefully this will help the story flow better than using 'he used his alpha voice' all the time.

Chapter 2

Bella pushed the half full cart slowly through the store. She glanced at the white envelope in her hand then back to the shelf. She knew Charlie wasn't staying at the house in forks, he had moved out to the La Push to be closer to Sue. She was prepared for an empty house, she was not prepared for the state of the house. She grabbed two boxes off the shelf, threw them in the cart before moving on through the store.

She looked back at her list before continuing through the store. Her mind drifted back to the state of the house. The house that was once light and full of life was empty, dark. Dust had covered every possible inch, the air was stale. It appeared Charlie was gone longer than he told her. She wasn't complaining though, it gave her something to do. Something other than sitting around thinking. The sound of her phone beeping pulled her out of her thoughts.

~Drew wants popcorn, peanut butter, apples and ice cream... lol that is just tonight! :)~

She laughed to herself as she turned the cart around. That as her boy, crazy cravings and always hungry. He was so much like his... she slammed the breaks on that thought. She promised herself that she wasn't going to go down that road and she was sticking to her promise.

"Bella... Bella Swan"

She froze, she knew that voice. She knew this would happen, it was part of living in a small town. But she hadn't even been in town 24 hours, was it too much to ask for one day. Just one day to adjust. She reached for a box of popcorn pretending to ignore the voice.

"Bella is that you?"

So much for that plan, she dropped the popcorn in the cart before turning around. Mrs. Ateara stood behind her in the aisle. Her black gray hair was pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head, a warm smile stretched across her copper face. She was just as Bella remembered her. She stood frozen as Mrs. Ateara walked around the carts wrapping her arms Bella. Bella forced her arms to wrap around the older women in front of her. "Bella it is so good to see you"

"You to Mrs. Ateara"

Mrs. Ateara pulled back from the hug "your all grown up now Bella and you look beautiful. Quil didn't tell me you were back in town"

She felt her heart rate increase, her breathe sticking to her throat at sound of her long ago friend "I just got back in town earlier today, I haven't seen him yet" Would she see him? Would she see any of them? Could she handle it if she did?

Mrs. Ateara smile never faltered but Bells could almost hear the wheel churning in her head over the information she had just given her "well Bella it was great to see you. I'll let you get back to your shopping"

"You to Mrs. Ateara." Bella smiled and hoped that it reached her eyes as she watched Mrs. Ateara grabbed her cart then turned the corner. She reached into her pocket pulling out her phone.

~I've been made be prepared~

Bella grabbed her cart, heading towards the front of the store. Even though she knew this was going to happen, they even had a plan for when it happened. She stood in the checkout line praying for more time. She wasn't ready yet, they weren't ready yet.

Jake was starting his last run around the perimeter when he felt the tingle, someone was joining him. He cleared his mind, pushed his body forward as he waited for whoever it was to join him.

_Hey Jake_

_Quill_

_I have some news _

_What?_

Jake continued on his patrol waiting for Quill to answer him, but he was met with silence. He could feel the fear and nervousness rolling of his pack mate so he knew Quill was still there but whatever the news was Quill didn't want to tell him. _Quill?_

_Yeah I'm still here_

_Are you going to tell me?_

He was once again met with silence. He tried to pick into his pack brothers mind to find the answers for himself but Quill had his thoughts lock tight. Jake turned his body and started heading towards his friend. Quill was so focused on keeping his thoughts to himself that he didn't notice that Jake was almost to him until he slammed into his side.

_Quill what happen?_

Jake watched as the chocolate wolf lowered itself to the ground. Quill was submitting to him, to his wolf. Why? The wolf whimpered, then Jake's mind was engulfed in Quill memory.

"_Quill you here?" Mrs. Ateara was walking through the front door carrying plastics bags. She set the bags on the corner, as Quill stood up from the couch._

"_Yeah, Ma" he walked over to the corner then started digging through the bags._

"_You are never going to believe who I saw at the store"_

'_Who?" Quill keep digging through the bags, waiting for his mom to answer. He noticed that his mom's heart rate increased and he froze. He looked over his shoulder at his mother who was leaning against the sink a sad look on her face "Who did you see?"_

_Mrs. Altera's eye glanced to the floor then back to Quill's "Bella….Bella Swan"_

Jake wasn't sure what happen next, because as soon as her heard her name fall from Mrs. Ateara's mouth his mind started racing. Love, pain, desire, regret, and rage all swirled around in him. He saw her face, heard her voice, smelled her. Memory after memory of her slammed around in his head, he couldn't stop them. Their first kiss, their first time, the first time she told him she loved him, Charlie telling him that she was gone.

He noticed that he was running again, running a path he hadn't ran in almost 4 years. A path he never forgot, a path his wolf never forgot. At some point on his trip down memory lane his wolf had taken over. He was overwhelmed with the wolf's need to find her, protect her, care for her. He heard footsteps behind him, but his wolf was in control. He tried to phase back, try to push his wolf back down, but he couldn't.

_Jake... Jake man stop_

His wolf ignored its pack mate, it didn't have to listen to the chocolate wolf. The other wolf wasn't in charge. The other wolf didn't out rank him. It would find her, it would protect her, she was important to them.

_What if she isn't human?_

The wolf turned snarling at his pack mate how it dare suggest that. The wolfs hold cracked at the thought of her being an enemy. She was too important, they couldn't kill her. That crack was all Jacob needed, he push through and took back control of his body. He slammed his wolf down further and phased back to human.

He dropped to his knees in the middle of the forest. It had been 4 years, 4 fucking years and he still couldn't let her go. 4 years and just the thought of her sent him spiraling. It wasn't supposed to be like this, she wasn't his imprint. She made her choice, she let him go. She chose his enemy over him. Why couldn't he let her go? Why couldn't his wolf let her go? Why the fuck was she back? His hands fisted in his short hair before he screamed.

"Jake"

He looked up, Quill flinched at the murderous look on his face, but he didn't care. He was done with all of this. He was not going to let her control him anymore. He was not going to let her tear his pack apart again. He wasn't sure why she came back but she needed to leave. His wolf snarled at the thought of her leaving but he slammed in back down again. He stood slowly, his eyes never leaving Quill's "You will not speak a word of this to anyone"

Quill head dropped on his shoulders "yeah, ok"

"Go"

He stood still as a statue as he watched Quill turn and run back through the forest. His wolf snarling and clawing at him. Trying to push him to go to her, to protect her. He tried with everything he had to push the wolf down again, but it was not giving in. Could he handle this? Could he handle Bella being back? He wasn't sure but he also knew he didn't have a choice. His pack had to come first, and they could not handle this. They were barely standing together as it was, this would break them. The secrets would break them.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer__: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Warning: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be drinking (alcohol), strong language, and sexual situations. Please remember that this is a story and does not reflect my personal views or opinions. _

A/N: Please read the warning above before reading Embry's POV for this chapter. You have been warned Enjoy!

Chapter 3

**Bella's POV**

Bella walked down the steps slowly, crossed the living room and threw her body down in Charlie's old recliner.

"They finally out" Bella looked over at her friend stretched out on the couch with her eyes closed.

"Yeah"

"What was it tonight?"

"The story of the spirit warrior."

She waited for Liz to replay but when her friend didn't make a move or a sound she relaxed into the recliner and closed her eyes. Surrounded by the silence of the house she finally tried to let her body relax. She had been on edge since she ran into Mrs. Ateara a few hours earlier. Every noise she heard caused her to jump. Her chest would tighten, her stomach knotting. Her whole body was waiting for the impending attack that didn't seem to be coming. At least not yet, but she knew it would come. She hated not knowing.

"Hey Iz"

"Yeah?"

"If you never planned on them meeting him why do you tell them the tribe's legends?"

She took a deep breath, but didn't open her eyes. Liz had never been the one to question her or her choice, she just always understood. She always just went along with the plan, Bella always figured that since her best friends already knew the whole story she understood the choices she made. She took another deep breathe trying to think of the best answer. The one that made the most sense. "I want them to know where they come from"

"But doesn't that make it harder"

Bella opened her eyes, Liz had flipped over on the couch and was staring at her from the couch. She laughed trying to cut the tension, building in the room "What's with the heavy question tonight?"

Liz's laugh filtered through the dark room "From what you said earlier you better get comfortable with the heavy questions"

Just like that the tension was gone. That was another reason Liz was her best friend, because no matter what choice she made she knew that Liz would have her back. Sure she pushed her when she needed to be pushed, she also wasn't scared to tell her when she was being idiotic. But she was loyal. "So what you are trying to prepare me. What happen to the plan?"

Liz flopped back over on her back "Plans fail, plus what kind of friend would I be if I sent you to war with no training"

Bella laughed. She knew Liz was right but that didn't make it any better. She had never thought about what she would do or say if she was ever back here because she never planned to come back here. She always knew that the twins would have questions, but she thought she had years before she had to really answer them. Years to come up with better answers than she had now "I guess I never really thought about it. I just always wanted them to be proud of who they were and were they came from" She laid back in the recliner and closed her eyes. "I guess I always knew in the back of my mind that they would meet"

The sound of someone knocking on the door cut through the silence that had fallen over the room. Her body flew up to the edge of the recliner. It was one of them, it had to be nobody else would come here this late. Her hand flew to her chest, she couldn't breathe, and her heart felt like it was going to smash through her chest. The impending attack she had been waiting for all night was finally here. The mystery person knock again harder this time. Her eyes flew to Liz, who was now siting up on the couch staring at her. She tried to open her mouth to tell her she couldn't, she wasn't ready, but nothing came out. Liz must have been able to read the panic in her face because without a word she stood from the couch and walked towards the door.

Bella heard the door creak, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the couch. Liz's voice drowned out the sound of her heartbeat in the darkness "Can I help you?"

"Who they hell are you?" At the sound of his voice time seemed to freeze. He still sounded the same but totally different at the same time. She should have known he would be the first one to show up, but she had hoped it would have been someone else. Anyone else. She couldn't face him first. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn't it have been Seth or Quill, those two she could have dealt with, him she couldn't? Hell she would have even taken Paul or Leah over him.

"You showed up on my door step. Who the hell are you?" Liz's voice pulled her back from the edge, and allowed her to take a deep breathe. She wasn't alone, she didn't have to do this alone. She wrapped that feeling around her, holding on to it with everything she had.

"Where's Bella"

"Wait a second"

She heard the door creak, then click closed. She focused on breathing in and out. She saw Liz drop down on the floor in front of her "I know you are strong enough to do this. I also know that waiting isn't going to make it any easier, but I will tell him to get lost if that is what you really want."

Bella sat there staring at Liz's face. She wished she had her friend's strength. Yeah she had grown a lot in the past four years she had to, but she was nowhere near as strong as Liz was. She took a deep breathe, nodding her head before standing up. Liz went to walk away, but she reached out and grabbed her hand, holding on to tightly. She would do this because she had to but she couldn't do it alone.

She knew she had to do this, she had to open the door and talk to him. She knew that waiting would just make it worse just like Liz said but neither of those thoughts made the steps towards the door any easier. She wiped her free hand on her pants before reaching out, grasping the handle. Her eyes flicked to Liz, who gave her an encouraging smile, nodded her head and squeezed her hand. She took a deep breathe then opened the door.

He stood on the small porch wearing only a pair of jeans. He was exactly as she remembered him, tan skin, tall, muscle, dark hair, deep brown eyes, but he was different. The light happiness that seemed to surround him had turn to a cold power. This wasn't the carefree happy boy she had left.

"Jake" her voice was barley a whisper but she knew he would hear her.

He stood there staring at her, his dark cold eyes racking over her body. She felt the need to fluff her hair, or try to suck in her already flat stomach but she stayed frozen in her spot. He took a step forward and her hand clinched to Liz tighter. She watched as his nostrils flared slightly, his arm lifted, she braced herself for his touch, but it never came. He shook his head, his arm falling back to his side "your still..." his eyes flicked to the door that Liz was hiding behind then back to her "you"

Her eyebrows raise "yeah. Why wouldn't I..." then it hit her. He thought she left to be with Edward. He though she left to become a vampire. She took a step towards him "no Jake I didn't" but he stepped away from her and her words died in her throat.

He looked up at her, the broken look across his face cause her heart to shatter before landing in her stomach. Would they ever stop hurting each other? "Then why?"

She let go of Liz's hand to step out on the porch pulling the door closed behind her. This conversation was going to be hard enough without an audience. Even though she needed her friend, she needed that feeling of not being alone, she needed this more. They needed this. "Jake... nothing I say is going to change why I left or make it any better" her eyes dropped to the floor of the porch she couldn't look at his broken expression anymore. She didn't want to hurt him anymore. She didn't want to hurt either of them anymore.

Before she could summon the strength to look up his arms wrapped around her pulling her to his chest. His heat surrounded her, His head dropped the side of her neck, breathing in deep. For a moment everything was perfect, everything was like it should be. His voice was shaky when he finally spoke "please bells"

Even though everything in her was screaming do it, tell him the truth, to hang on to the moment of happiness. She couldn't. She had to protect him as long as she could, because even though he was hurting now the secrets she had would hurt worse. She closed her eyes, she tried to pull him closer "I can't Jake"

As soon as the words left her mouth the heat was gone, he was gone. She opened her eyes to find him at the bottom of the steps, his eyes burning, his fist clenched. His voice cold, controlled "who is in the house?"

"My best friend Liz"

She saw him cringe at her words, "and?"

She felt her heart rate pick up "no one" she whispered. Did he know? How could he know?

His voice dropped a couple of octaves and she could feel the power rolling off him "stop lying to me"

The pain that filled her earlier turned to rage. How dare he "Did you just try to alpha order me Jacob black?" he just stood there staring at her, the power pouring off him " I'm not one of your damn pack members you can't force me to do ..."

He cut off her rant "Who is in the house, I can hear three heartbeats. So who are they? Tell me"

She felt her rage boil as she stepped off the porch on to the first step "I don't have to tell you shit. You can't order me to do anything. How dare you!"

He growled and it sent shivers down her spine, "How dare me, how dare you! You leave with no notice, no note, and no phone calls. Nothing for 4 fucking years! Then you come back an expect everything to be just the way it was!"

"I don't expect anything. You came to me I didn't come to you"

He took a step closer "So are you saying if Mrs. Ateara wouldn't of seen you I wouldn't have known you were hear"

"I didn't come here for you. I came here for Charlie"

He took another step closer, putting them face to face "Tell me who is in the house Bella"

Even though ever muscles in her body wanted to drop, wanted her to submit to his power she stood her ground. She wasn't one of his pack members, he couldn't bully her into anything "Screw you I don't have to tell you anything"

He backed away from her, his face blank, unreadable. "You have been labeled a threat to the tribe. You are not allowed within the bounds of La Push. The pack will be notified" he turned, walking towards the woods.

"Are you threating me Jacob?" but he never answered her, she watched his back until he disappeared into the trees. Once she couldn't see or hear him anymore the anger disappeared, her body dropped to the steps. She wasn't sure how long she sat there or when the tears started before she heard the front door open. She heard Liz sit down next to her.

"Well I think that went well considering" Liz put an arm around her, and she laid her head on her friends shoulder. Trying to soak up as much comfort as she could. She tried to will the tears to stop but they just keep falling. "an let me be the first to tell you Iz he is nowhere near as charming as you described him. I hope your description of the others aren't as off"

She couldn't help it she laughed, she laughed so hard her stomach starting hurting "me to Liz, me to" She sat there with her head on her friends shoulder as the silence and darkness wrapped around them once again. The tears still falling, soaking into the material of her friend's shirt. Neither one said anything, as she tried to pull herself together. It was useless, just like he always did Jacob ripped off all the Band-Aids she had carefully placed all these years to hold her together. He ripped her open, he made her feel it all. Her head felt like it was going to explode with all the emotions banging around inside it.

"Mommy" She whipped her head around and saw drew standing in the door way. His dark eyes were watery and puffy, his arms clenching his small silver stuffed wolf to his chest. She wiped off her cheeks, before opening her arms. He ran across the porch, in to her arms, snuggling into her chest 'Mommy is the bad man gone"

Her arms tightened around her little boy, the guilt leaving a bitter taste in her mouth 'Yeah honey he is gone" The guilt threaten to overtake her, this was her fault. She did this. Her choices had brought them to this place. She was supposed to protect them, keep the safe. Buried under the guilt was anger. Anger at herself, anger at Jake, anger at the situation. She grabbed ahold of that anger and wrapped around her. That was the only way she was going to make it through. That was the only way she was going to be able to protect them, she couldn't let them tear her apart. She wouldn't. Because if they tore her apart then they were tearing her kids apart to and that she could not allow to happen.

**Embry's POV**

Embry ran his hand on her hip up her spine, wrapping it in her blonde hair using it as an anchor to hold her in place. His other hand gripped her hip tightly, he was pretty sure she would have a burse in the morning, not that he would know or cared and judging by the sounds coming out of her mouth she didn't either. He pushed his hips forward hard, slamming into her, pulling her hair tighter. A scream tore from her lips as her walls clenched around him, he slammed forward once again, finding his release.

His eyes closed, his hands dropped to the cool surface of the sink at her sides, taking a few deep breathes as he came down from his high. He pulled out, grabbed a few tissues off the back of the toilet, cleaning himself off. He reached down pulling the black shorts pooled at his feet back up. He turned, his hand on the door knob when he heard her speak "that's it?"

He look over his shoulder, she was standing up now, eyes wide, face flushed. He smiled "thanks you were great"

Her eyebrows shot up "seriously?"

He reached out running his knuckles down her check "You were great. This" he waved his hand around the bathroom "was great but don't make it more than what it was"

He turned opened the door, stepped out pulling it shut behind him before she could say anything else. He turned heading down hall towards the stairs, towards the first floor, the best from the rap music rattling his bones

He reached the bottom of the steps, his eyes roaming over the crowd of people. He left the steps, pushing through the people until he reached the 3 silver barrels waiting in the back corner of the house. Grabbing a red plastic cup he filled it up, downed the brown liquid in one gulp an started filing it up again when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around slowly he came face to face with a smirking Paul "follow me I got something better"

He empty his cup before following Paul through the crowd to the kitchen. He stopped at the fridge taking the water bottle Paul handed him. He raised his eyebrows but Paul just laughed, shrugging his shoulder, he looked down at the clear liquid before deciding fuck it. Unscrewing the cap he took a huge gulp, almost gagging "shit that burns"

Paul laughed harder "Res moon shine. It's supposed to burn"

He looked back at the bottle, then back to his friend before laughing then taking another, smaller drink "thanks"

Paul just shrugged before glancing down at his wrist "so only 15 minutes you're getting better"

He laughed so hard he had to cover his mouth with his hand to keep from spitting all over the place "what can I say I have a good teacher"

Paul laughed "that you do" he felt Paul's hand land on his shoulder "look over there" his eyes followed his friends finger an saw a petite burnet dancing with a group a friend. He took another drink as he watched her hips sway back and forth

"Nah man don't do burnets" he turned, looking at his friend who had a knowing look on his face.

As soon as Paul noticed his eyes were on him the look disappeared, replaced with his trademark smirk "well if you won't I will"

He patted his friends shoulder "go get em tiger" Paul just laughed as he walked off. He stood there leaning against the counter, finishing off his bottle as he watched Paul walk across the dance floor, wrap his arms around the girls waist, whispering in her ears. He stared at the girl for a while trying to figure out why he wasn't attracted to her. What was wrong with her?

He took another drink only to discover that the bottle was empty, tossing it in the sink he came to the conclusion he was just a blonde kind of guy. Everybody had there thing right? He started pushing through the people, when he felt a hand land on his arm. Turning around he noticed the hand was attached to a female with red hair and bright green eyes "you need some company?" she smiled at him.

His eyes trailed down her body then back up to her face, ok so blondes and redheads it seemed. He smiled and grabbed her hand "I sure do" he pulled her behind him in search of somewhere less crowded.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer__: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Warning: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be drinking (alcohol), strong language, and sexual situations. Please remember that this is a story and does not reflect my personal views or opinions. _

A/N: Thanks for all the review/favorites/follows, it was awesome to open my email and see that so many people actually liked my story. While I can't answer all of your questions without giving away too much I will tell you guys that there is no imprinting in this story (besides Sam and Jared), Bella didn't cheat on anybody (no matter how much it may seem like she did) and you will get more pieces of the puzzle that is Bella's baby daddy. I also know that there are mistakes in this story and I am very sorry about that. My usually beta/pre-reader RL got crazy busy and she had to back out so I am on my own until I find someone new. I promise to try and do better though. On that note, this chapter sucked to write. I deleted and started over 4 times before I finally decided to just post it so I can move on to the next one. I hope you guys won't be too disappointed or confused by the end of it, stick with me I promise it gets better. Enjoy

Chapter 4

**Jake's POV**

Jake woke to the sound of yelling. He ran his hands over his face praying to the spirits that it was all a dream, a really bad dream.

"He had no right to go to my house and threaten my daughter"

Nope not a dream, damn it.

"Charlie I'm sure had a good reason if that is what happen"

"What reason is good enough for him to go over there and threaten her because I can't think of any?"

"They have a rough past you know this"

He stood up and grabbed the first pair of pants he could find, before heading for his bedroom door, time to go save his father. At the sound of his door opening both men turned an looked at him, running a hand through his hair he headed for the kitchen "dad, chief" he stopped at the sink, filled a glass with water then turned to face the firing squad.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"About?"

Charlie took a step towards him "Don't play coy with me Jacob I have known you to long and I know you know why I am here"

Great the chief was in cop mode, this day was slowly becoming just as bad as yesterday. He finished his water sitting the cup back in the sink "What do want me to say chief? Sorry? Well i'm not going to, I did what I had to do"

"You had to go all the way to forks and threaten Bells?"

He pulled out a chair sitting down "I didn't threaten her"

"So telling someone that they are a threat to the reservation and that you are going to let the reservation's pack of werewolves know they weren't allowed here isn't a threat?"

Billy rolled into the kitchen as he jumped up from his chair, coming face to face with Charlie "Just because you know about the pack doesn't mean you know the pack! I did what I had to do, you and your daughter are just going to have to get over it"

At the sound of his dad's voice he pulled back, pushing his anger down "Jacob Ephraim Black you do not talk to people like that! Now sit your ass down boy and tell me exactly what happen."

He threw his body back down in the chair as his dad moved closer to the table, Charlie grabbed the chair across from him sitting down, staring daggers at him. He took a deep breathe, ran a hand through his hair and told them everything. Mrs. Ateara seeing Bella at the store, Quill telling him, him showing up there, her friend answering the door, his happiness at her still being human, the two extra heart beats, their fight. When he repeated what he said to her right before he left he saw his dad shake his head and roll his eyes at him. He sat there starting at the two men in silence before Charlie jumped up from the chair

"Those two heartbeats you heard were my grandbabies. I swear Jacob if she packs them up an leaves before I can see them, because of you I will have your ass" Charlie stormed out the front door "I need some air"

Jake sat there feeling like he had been punched in the stomach. Grandbabies? Bella had children? He looked over at his dad who looked just as shocked as he did "Dad I swear I didn't know"

"I didn't either son"

"I thought it was a boyfriend or more friends" he ran his hands over his face, before dropping them on the table "if I would have known... I would of... I don't know..." he felt his dad grab his hand

"You let your jealous an anger get the best of you. It's not ok, but it's understandable"

"I messed up dad. I messed up bad" he stood up from the table and started towards his room

"Jake where are you going?"

He didn't turn around "I have to go fix it" he pushed his door open an started tearing his room apart for his car keys

"Jake... Jacob stop" he turned towards his dad which was in the doorway of his room "stop son"

He fell back on his bed "I have to fix it dad"

"I think you have done enough Jake. I will get Charlie to take me over there, I will speak with Bella. I will fix it" he watched as his dad turned his chair an started for the front of the house "you need to clean yourself up and call a pack meeting" his dad looked over his shoulder at him "they need to know she is back, all of them"

He just nodded at his father before falling backwards on his bed. He laid there for minute replaying everything that happened last night over and over again, before standing up. He had to fix this before it spiraled any more out of control. Finding his phone laying on the counter he pulled up Sam's name, hitting call.

**Bella's POV**

Bella leaned her hip against the corner, blowing the steam off her coffee before taking a drink. She sat her mug down. Picking up a fork to flip the bacon, when she heard the front door open. She froze, hand in midair.

"Bells?"

She released the breath she was holding, her hand lowering to the skillet "In here dad" She flipped the bacon as her dad's footsteps sounded behind her. She turned around to greet her father, the fork falling from her hand, landing on the floor with a loud clunk "Billy?"

Billy Black smiled at her from his chair in front of her father. "Bella, it's good to see you"

'Wha… how…" Her eyes shot to the back door, then back to Billy "Why are you here?"

The smell of something burning filtered through the kitchen, she turned her back on Billy, and started pulling the bacon out of the pan "I'm here to apologize on behalf of my son."

"So what he said wasn't true?"

"No it was the truth" She turn and stared at Billy "You were labeled a threat because we were under the impression you left to join the Cullen's."

She looked up at Charlie, he just shrugged "I figured it you wanted them to know you would have told them."

She rolled her eyes at her father, then headed towards the pantry "So what now?" She reached in to grab a box of pancake mix.

"There is a council meeting tomorrow morning" the rest of Billy's words were cut off by the back door flying open, the twins running into the kitchen.

"Mommy presents"

"No me first"

"No me I'm older"

She turned around just as Drew reached over to pull Abby's hair "Andrew do not pull your sisters hair"

Her son looked up at her with his dark eyes "Sorry Mommy"

She noticed the small white flower clenched in his hand "Is that for me?" His whole face lite up as he pushed the white flower at her. She sat the box of pancake mix on the counter before taking the small white flower. She leaned down hugging her son "Thank you it is beautiful"

"Mommy look at mine"

She looking over at Abby, who was standing behind her brother a pink flower in her hand. Bella leaned over hugging her daughter, before taking the small flower "It is beautiful to, thank you"

"Mommy who that?"

She froze at her sons words, she had complete forgotten about Billy. Her heart started racing, her hands shaking. She took a deep breath and remembered her words form last night. They were not going to intimated her. They were not going to control her, she was in control, and she could do this. She looked over at her son "That Drew, is Billy, he is grandpa Charlie's friend" She looked over at Billy, his face as white as hers, his eyes wide "Drew why don't you and Abby take grandpa Charlie to pick more flowers" She looked back at her son "We can put them on the table"

She stood up as Drew ran over and grabbed Charlie's hand "Come Grandpa I show you how" Charlie just laughed, letting the little boy lead him towards the back door. She held her breathe as Abby walked up to Billy.

Billy pulled himself out of his shock as her daughter stopped in front of him. He looked down at her with soft eyes "Hi there"

Abby smiled "You wanna pick flowers?"

Billy looked up at her but she just stood there "I can't right now I need to speak to your mommy first"

Abby turned running straight for the back door 'Grandpa wait for me"

She stood there staring at Billy, before picking up the pancake mix. If he wanted answer he was going to have to ask for them, she wasn't giving them anything. She flipped the burner back, dumped the bacon in a skillet and place it on the heat. She dumped the pancake mix and water in a bowl and started stirring. "Their Native?"

She pushed the spoon into the bowl harder "Yes"

"How old are they?"

"Three"

"Their twins?"

"Yes" She put the bacon back on the plate and spooned the mix into the pan. She had to keep busy or she was going to start thinking, then she would crack. She could not crack, she had to stay in control.

"He looks older than her"

She flipped the pancakes "I know" She scoped them out, placing them on the plate by the bacon, then refilled the skillet.

"He also looks a lot like Jacob"

She sighed as she flipped the new batch of pancakes over "I know"

She scooped out the pancakes, laying them on top of the other one before turning the burner off "Are they…?"

She turned and looked at Billy "Please don't"

"Bella I"

She held her hand up "Billy don't. I didn't come here to get into this I came here spend time with Charlie"

"This isn't about you Bella"

She grabbed the plate of food and carried it to the table "You're right it isn't, it is about my children. Mine, not yours." She turned around to face him again "So I am asking, no begging you to just let it go. Please Billy." She stood there staring at him, his face was controlled as he stared back at her. "You can stay and get to know them if you promise me you won't go there, you won't bring it up again" She knew it was wrong to blackmail him in a way, but she had to protect her kids. Nothing would stop her from protecting them.

Billy nodded his head slowly "I promise Bella"

She walked over to the back door "Guys food" The twins came running in followed closely by Liz, who froze as soon as she saw Billy. Bella looked down at her children "Go upstairs and wash your hands, then you can eat" The twins took off through the house, as Billy rolled his chair forward.

He stuck out his hand "Billy Black nice to meet you"

Liz grabbed his hand as Charlie walked in the back door "Liz" She looked over at her "I'm going to go help them" Bella nodded her head, watching as Liz disappeared into the house.

Charlie stepped forward, laying a bunch of flowers on the corner "Everything ok Bells?"

She look at her father "Yeah dad everything is fine" She looked back at Billy "you two better start before they come back"

Billy and Charlie had just settled in at the table with the twins ran back in the kitchen. She helped them both into their chairs, before handing them plates. She turned towards the fridge to grab there drinks

"Grandpa"

"Yeah Drew"

"Do you catch real bad guys?"

Charlie looked over at his grandson as she put the cups in front of them "I sure do. Why?"

"Did you catch the bad man last night?"

Bella tried to hold in her laughter as she made herself a fresh cup of coffee. "What bad man?"

"The bad man that made mommy cry"

Charlie looked up at her "Jake?" she nodded her head just as Liz walked in to the kitchen, grabbing two pieces of bacon off the table, then joining her against the counter.

Billy laughed "Trust me Drew, your grandpa got the bad man"

Drew smiled, then took a big bite of his pancake. Abby looked up at Billy "Are you from a push" Billy nodded his head "I wanna go to a push but the bad man said no"

Billy looked up at her "Well your mommy and I have a meeting to go to in the morning, then you will be able to come to La Push all you want"

Charlie looked at Billy "That's all it is going to take is one council meeting?"

Billy's eyes never left her "Yeah, everything will get settled tomorrow."

She stood there staring back at Billy as she drank her coffee and watched her children eat. She wasn't sure but his words sounded like they had a double meaning. She tried to tell herself that he wouldn't do that, that Billy was a man that stood by his word. That he wouldn't break his promise, but the pit in the bottom of her stomach didn't believe it.

**Paul's POV**

Paul flipped his phone closed, dropping it on to the table as he heard footsteps on the stairs. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see the red head put something in Embry's hand then disappear out the front door. He pulled out a chair and dropped his body into as Embry joined him in the kitchen. "First a sleep over, then a phone number you young warrior are failing"

Embry shrugged as he dug around the inside of the fridge "Last night I was too tired to care" He stood up holding a water bottle 'Plus that girl was crazy in a good way" Embry smiled before putting the bottle to his lips. Paul opened his mouth to tell his friend that that wasn't water, but he was too late. Embry had already downed half the bottle before turning to the sink, spitting moonshine all over "Shit I forgot" Paul just laughed as he dropped the bottle in the sink, grabbed a cup, and filled it with tap water. "So what's the plan for today?"

Paul watched Embry as he leaned against the sink drinking the water. He was trying to gauge his friend's mood, because what he had to said could go one of two ways. He wasn't exactly sure what happen to the kid, but he knew that the shy, warm, caring kid that Embry use to be was gone. Now the kid only had two sides, normal carefree, laid back Embry, or full on rage, screaming, breaking shit Embry. There wasn't much that would push the kid over the ledge but one of those things was about to happen "There's a pack meeting tonight"

"When?"

He reached over pushed a button on his phone lighting up the screen 'About 20 minutes"

"Where?"

"Sam's"

He watched as Embry sat the cup down, then ran his hands over his face 'Fuck, I should of saved that bottle"

Paul laughed, carefree Embry it was. He sent a silent thank you prayer to whoever was up there "Well lucky for you there's two in the fridge"

Embry grabbed the bottles from the fridge. He shoved one in his back pocket and unscrewed the cap on the other before heading towards the front door 'You coming?"

Paul stood up "You going to shower?"

Embry pulled the bottle from his lips, looked down at his bare chest, black jeans and bare feet "Nope" then disappeared out the door. Paul sighed, maybe he spoke to early, but at least the meeting would be interesting. He pulled the door shut behind him, then silently followed Embry three houses down to Sam's

As soon as he pushed the gate of Sam's yard opened everybody's eyes landed on them. He shook his head, yup very interesting.

"So nice of you two to join us" Jake stood in the middle of Sam's yard, the pack spread out behind him.

Embry pitched the empty bottle into the large trash can, before turning towards Jake "Don't make the meetings so early and we wouldn't be late" He shrugged, grab the bottle out of his back pocket then leaned back against the fence.

He pulled the gate shut as Jake turned on Embry "Five in the evening is not early"

Embry smirked "It is when you actually have a life"

Paul bit his lip to hold in his laughter as he leaned against the fence next to Embry. Jake's eyes landed on him "You got something to add Paul?"

"Nope"

"Perfect, we can get started then" Jake turned around to face the rest of the pack.

Embry handed the bottle over to him, he put it to his lips and filled his mouth with the clear liquid "The king seems tense maybe you should teach him something" He doubled over, spitting the moonshine all over Sam's backyard, he couldn't help. He couldn't hold the laughter in anymore. He stood up wiping the liquid off his chin as Jake turned.

"What did you say?"

Embry grabbed the bottle from his hand "I said you seem a little tense, your highness but I'm sure Paul could teach you some tricks to help with that"

Jake clenched his fist, took a step forward then froze a smug look on his face "Fine asshole you want to play it like that. Bella is back."

Paul tensed as he waiting for Embry's response, but Embry didn't move. He stood perfectly still his eyes on Jake "And?"

Jake looked as shocked as he felt at Embry's response. The kid was acting like someone told him it was Tuesday, not that the girl who ripped his heart out was back. Jake tried again "Bella… Bella Swan is back. She is back in forks. She is human"

He looked over at Embry who still hadn't moved "Great for her, still not seeing the point"

He eyes flew back to Jake, what the hell was going on? Jake was looking at Sam, who was sitting on his deck steps looking like he was going to throw up. Sam shrugged his shoulders, Jake turned back to Embry "She is human, so she is not a threat to the tribe. There is a council meeting in the morning to strip her of that title" Jake's eye moved to him "Paul you are going to escort her to the meeting."

"What the hell, why me?"

"Sam is on the council. Quill, Seth and I have to get are parents there. Brady and Colin are patrolling. Jared and Leah have to work, they already have to take off to come to the meeting. So that leaves you"

Embry pushed off the fence "What about me?"

Jake looked at him "What about you?"

"Why can't I go get her?"

Jake growled "Because you can't even take care of yourself, let alone someone else?"

Embry took another step "Nobody said she had to be taken care of, just brought here" Embry took another step putting him face to face with Jake, then smirked "Trust me your highness I am great at getting females to do what I want. Maybe I could teach you a few things also"

Jake growled, before slamming Embry against the fence pinning him there with his hand around his throat "You will not go near Bella, do you understand me?" Embry just laughed. Jake pulled back then slammed Embry's head against the fence again "Do you understand me?"

Embry laughed harder "Got it Chief"

Jake dropped Embry to the ground "Get the hell out of here, and take a damn shower you smell like a fucking brothel."

Embry stood up, dusting off his jeans, smirk still spread across his face "I think I smell awesome." Then he disappeared through the gate.

Jake dropped his head, running his hand across the back of his neck "You all can leave, Paul my dad wants to talk to you at the house"

Paul walked through the gate then turned in the direction of the Black's house, his mind racing over the meeting. Something was going on, he just wasn't sure what but judging by Embry's reaction to the news about Bella it was something big. The last time someone had said her name to the kid he lost it, took out a table, half a wall, a patio door, and about 15 trees. Today he acted like it was nothing. Sure it had been four years, but he knew how Embry had felt about her. The kid had confessed everything to him after she left. He may not know much about love and all that shit but he knew that the feelings Embry told him about didn't just go away.

Billy was sitting on the front porch of the small red house as he approached. He stopped at the bottom of the steps, shoving his hands in his pockets he looked up at the old man "Chief"

"Paul. How was the meeting?"

How was the meeting? Memorable, shocking, fucked up "Strange?"

"I can imagine" the old man was hiding something, but what? "They didn't kill each other did they?"

"Who?"

"Jake and Embry. Who else?"

He took a step back "You knew?"

Billy laughed "I raised both of those boys, of course I knew. Neither one of them could hide things from me, not from lack of trying though"

He just stared at Billy, maybe the old man was hiding a lot more than he original though "Embry didn't care"

'What do you mean he didn't care?"

"He didn't care. He didn't even blink when Jake told him"

"Hmmmm" Billy eyes drifted over to the tree line behind him 'Maybe he has gotten over her after all these years"

He glanced behind him at the tree line but he couldn't see anything. He looked back at Billy "A person doesn't just get what they had"

"Maybe, maybe not" Billy looked back at him "You're still friends with Embry's correct?"

"Yeah?"

"Good, I need you to do something for me"

"What?"

Billy moved forward to the edge of the steps, his eyes scanned the tree line before landing back on him "There is more to this story than what the pack knows. Bella is going to need someone to trust, someone to lean on. I need you to be that person"

He threw his arms up in the arm "What the hell is wrong with you Black's, you know that me and her don't have the best relationship right?"

"I know you reputation"

"What the hell does my reputation have to do with anything?"

Billy leaned forward resting him elbows on his knees "You have this ability to make girls trust you, I need you to use that on Bella. Get her to trust you."

He laughed "I think you have been misinformed. I can get a girl to take her clothes off that's about it. I'm no good with all that other shit"

"That has more to do with trust than you know"

He was starting to think that the rumor about all the pack being on drugs wasn't that much of a rumor. Had everybody lost their damn minds tonight? Maybe it was the water? He shoved his hands back in his pocket and took a step closer to Billy "Why?"

"Like I said she is going to need someone to trust, someone to lean on"

He stared at Billy, none of this was making sense. Something was definitely going on, but what he didn't know. He wanted to know though, and what was the best way to get information? To be right in the middle of the action, to have a front row seat to the show. "I'll try, we don't have the best relationship so I'm not making any promises."

"That's all I ask, Thank you"

He nodded his head, turned and headed home, he was definitely not drinking the water.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer__: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Warning: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be drinking (alcohol), strong language, and sexual situations. Please remember that this is a story and does not reflect my personal views or opinions. _

A/N: Thanks for all the review/favorites/follows. Just a reminder there is no imprinting in this story, well besides the two already happily imprinted wolves (Jared and Sam). So here it is, the chapter you all have been waiting for. Paul and Bella's personal thoughts are italics. Rest of A/N at bottom. Enjoy

Chapter 5

**Paul's POV**

As soon as Paul stepped out of his truck at the Swan house he smelled him, he turned towards the trees "Sam?"

He watched as Sam stepped out of the tree line across the street "You always could smell the best" Sam ran across the street, stopping a few feet behind his truck "Look Paul I don't have a lot of time"

"Time for what?"

"Jacob doesn't know you like I do, he doesn't think you are smart enough to figure it out, but I know you and I know how your mind works. I know you can figure this out if you try."

"Figure what out Sam?"

Sam ran back across the street stopping at the tree line, he turned around. "Tell him I rode with you to pick up stuff for Em at the store. Remember Paul nothing is what it seems" He turned disappeared into the trees.

He pushed his palms into his eyes. His pack mates were starting to give him a headache with their secret codes, late night meetings, and random missions. It was staring to seem like the only two sane ones were him and Embry, and that in itself was a head fuck. The one person who should be losing his shit was perfectly normal while everybody else had lost it. He looked up at the white house in front of him. He still didn't have a fucking clue what was going on but he knew that it had something to do with the girl in that house. He took a step towards the house when he felt a hand land on his shoulder "Paul"

He looked up at sky, _seriously again?_ He turned coming face to face with his Alpha "Jake?"

Jake crossed his arms over his chest 'Why are you here?"

"You told me to be here"

"I told you to escort Bella to the council meeting"

He rolled his eyes "Last time I checked to escort someone somewhere you had to be with said person"

"The meeting isn't for two more hours"

"Breakfast" He crossed his arms as Jake raised his eyebrows "What, Embry can cook worth shit, Bella can. If I have to be up this early I should at least get feed"

Jake leaned against his truck "I know what my dad told you to do last night"

"Awesome, you going to order me away from her too, because I will gladly go home and back to sleep" Jake pushed off the truck shaking his head no. "Great" He turned and started heading for the house again.

He had made it all the way to the door when he heard Jake speak again "Don't sleep with her"

"Who said I haven't already?" He knocked on the door, as Jake growled. He smirked, it was just too easy to push that kids buttons sometimes. As soon as he heard footsteps inside, he looked over his shoulder but Jake was gone. At the sound of the door opening he snapped his head back forward, but the female standing in front of him was not Bella Swan.

She had blonde hair, bright green eyes, tan skin and legs that seemed to go on forever "You done?"

His eyes snapped back up to her green ones, she smelled like the beach "Who the hell are you?"

Her eyes narrowed "Do they not teach you guy's manners on that damn reservation"

He laughed "Feisty. I like that?"

She rolled her eyes and slammed the door in his face "Bella there's another man at the door for you" He heard gravel crunching behind him before she mumbled 'Damn Indians, at least this one has clothes on"

He turned around laughing as Charlie was climbing out of his cruiser "Paul, What's so funny?"

"Blondie"

Charlie looked up at the door "Oh, Liz. Yeah that girl is a bit of a firecracker"

He walked down the steps to make room for Charlie "Yeah I got that. So what's up Chief?"

Before Charlie could answer the front door flew open and a little boy raced down the step, straight into Charlies arms "Grandpa it's the bad man get him"

_Grandpa, What the fuck?_ Charlie ran his up and down the boys back "Drew that isn't the bad man that's Paul. He is a friend"

The little boy turned in Charlie's arm, he was pretty sure if he wasn't a werewolf he would have fainted. The little boy had jet black hair, bright black eyes, his skin was a few shades lighter than his own and he looked like Jake, but something was wrong. It was looking a blurry picture, you knew who the person was but it wasn't right. He took a step closer the kid, trying to figure out what it was that kept the kid from being a mini Jake. His eyes traced over the kids features searching for any sign of Bella, but there was nothing.

Then the little boy smiled and it hit him. He knew that smile. He had been living with that smile for the few years. "Grandpa!" He spun around so fast he stumbled, he almost ended up ass first on the ground. There was another little kid standing on the porch. _Fuck how many were there, wasn't one enough?_ His eyes focused on the little kid on the porch, it was a little girl. A little girl with Bella's eyes and Bella's hair. If he wasn't sure before, he was sure now. Besides her eyes and hair the little girl looked just like her father.

His eyes bounced back and forth between the two kids, his head felt like it was going to explode. Finally his eyes landed on Charlie, who was just standing there holding the little boy in his arms, staring at him. "Tell her I will be back before the meeting to get her" He didn't wait for a response, he ran straight for his truck.

As soon as he flung open the door he heard Charlie whisper "Don't go and do something foolish boy" He turned around fully prepared to ask Charlie what was more foolish than he daughter showing up out of the blue with two of his pack mates kids. Kids nobody knew about, but Charlie was pushing the kids into the house without a backwards glance at him.

20 minutes later Paul pushed his truck into park in front of the small green house. He needed more proof and aside from asking Bella, which was not happing this was the only place he knew to go. He jumped from his truck, up the steps and threw the door to the small house open. Emily jumped up from the table "Paul what..."

He cut her off, he didn't have time "You still have all those boxes Tiffany left here?"

"Yeah in the spare bedroom" Emily took a step away from the table "But Paul what's" He turned and headed through the house towards the spare bedroom, Emily close behind him "Paul what is going on" He threw the bedroom door open.

There had to be at least 50 boxes in the small room, he turned towards Emily "Pictures, photo albums, family videos, anything like that in here?"

"I think she took most of that stuff with her, but there might be some in that box over there" He walked across the room picking up the box Emily pointed to. He dropped the box on to bed in the middle of the room. Opening the top he found what he was looking for. Grapping the large brown binder on the top he flipped through the pages, but it was all pictures of people he didn't know. He dropped it on the bed and grabbed the next one, same thing.

He growled 'Damn it" Then he saw it, shoved into the corner of the box was a small light blue binder buried under bigger binders. He shifted the stuff in the box, pulling the small blue binder out. It had a fabric toy truck on the front next to a picture of Embry, Jake and Quill, but they were too old in that picture. He started to flip through the pages but Tiffany Call was turning out to be the world's worse photographer. The boys were either too old, or they weren't looking at the camera. _Damn it could something just go right for once? _He was about to throw the binder on the bed and start on another when his eyes landed on a picture and he froze.

There was a little boy standing in the water at first beach waving at the camera. The little boy in the picture looked just like the little boy from earlier, Bella's little boy. He flipped the binder around "Emily who is this?"

Emily just stared at him "Paul you know who that is"

He shook the binder in his hand "Emily please?" She sighed before walking further into the room, she leaned down looked at the picture then back up to him.

"That's Embry on first beach. I think he was like 5 or 6 I'm not sure"

His body dropped to the bed "Fuck"

"Paul, what is going on?"

He looked up at her "Bella has kids."

"That's great, but what does that have to do…" Emily's hand flew over her mouth "Oh"

"Yeah"

She sat next to him on the bed "You think they are Embry's?"

He looked back down at the picture in his hands "Hell Em, I don't know. I mean the little girl has Bella's eyes and hair but other than that she looks just like Embry. Then there is the little boy, who looks older than the little girl, he looks a like Jake. But they smell the same like Colin and Brady. So that means they are twins like Colin and Brady." He looked back up at her "But Bella couldn't have been pregnant by both Jake and Embry at the same to. I mean that is a little too weird even for us, right?"

"Yes, but it does make sense"

He jumped up off the bed ""What, that somehow with their super werewolf sperm Jake and Embry both knocked her up at the same time?"

She looked up at him "Not that part, the part about the little boy" He just stared at her "I assume when you say he looks like Jake, you mean Jake now?"

"Yeah" He watched as she disappeared from the room, returning moments later with a picture frame in her hands. He took the frame from her and looked at it, it was picture of the pack on the beach. He shrugged his shoulder "It's a picture of us?"

"Yes it is, but look at it Paul"

His eyes scanned over the faces in the picture, but all he saw was his pack mates. He looked up at her 'I don't get it"

She laughed and sat back down on the bed "For someone so observant you sure miss a lot." He walked over and sat down next to her "After you guys changed for the first time your looks changed. You all started to favor each other more than you did before the change." He raised his eyebrows at her "Before the change the only looks you guys shared was being Native Americans, after the change you all look more like siblings. Which I guess in a way you are."

He looked back at the picture. While they all still looked different he noticed what Emily was talking about. They were all about the same build, around the same height, their eyes were the same shapes, and the lines in the faces were similar. "So you're saying that Bella's son what? Turns into a werewolf puppy? He looked at her

Emily laughed "Well that is a possibility I guess, but I was thinking more along the lines of why Old Quill and Old Jared favor each other. Whereas Billy, Harry, and even your own father don't." She patted him on the knee, before standing up and leaving him alone in the room.

He dropped the pictures to the bed and ran his hands over his face. His head was pounding, he wasn't made for this shit. Eating, sleeping, screwing, and patrolling those were his things. Things he was good at. Solving the mystery of the universe not so much. But Embry was his pack mate, hell he was like his little brother. Out of all the pack members Embry and he were the closes, maybe it was there upbringing. Bastard fathers, single mothers who did the best they could. Maybe it was something else, hell he didn't know.

He stood up and walked out of the room in search of Emily. All he knew was that Embry deserved answers, he deserved the truth. If those kids were his he deserved a chance. A chance to be better than their fathers were to them. He found Emily in the kitchen, siting at the table reading the paper. He walked over and sat down across from her "What did you mean by that"

She looked up from the paper "It's just a theory" He reached into the middle of table, grabbing a muffin out of the basket. He picked at waiting for her to go on. She sighed and folded the paper. "All the generations of your blood lines carry the wolf gene. But the last actual pack was 3 generations ago"

He looked up at her "I know all of this Emily"

Her eyes narrowed "Just listen"

"Ok, sorry" He leaned back in his chair and shoved a piece of the muffin in his mouth.

Emily took a deep breathe. "Old Quill and Old Jared have the wolf gene and they favor each other. Harry and Billy also have the wolf gene but they look nothing alike. The difference between those two generations are that Old Quill and Old Jared fathers were wolves whereas Billy and Harry fathers weren't. I also think that if we could find a picture of the last pack Old Quill and Old Jared would favor them as well." She stood up from the table and headed towards the coffee pot.

"So let's see if I understand you" He leaned forward, resting him elbows on the table "You're saying that Bella's son looks like Jake because his dad is a wolf."

"No I am saying that Bella's son looks like the rest of you, like the pack, because his father is a wolf. You are the one who keeps saying that he looks like Jake."

"Because he does"

Emily returned to the table with a fresh cup of coffee "What makes you say that the boy looks like Jake?"

He shrugged "He just does"

"Ok, what made you think that he was Embry's?" She sipped her coffee waiting for his answer.

"His eyes and his smile"

She nodded "I think that you are saying the kid looks like Jake because that is what is easiest for your mind. When you think of Bella and the pack, you think of Bella and Jake. We all do. Sure, she was with Embry, and yes we all know that. But they weren't together as long as Jake and Bella were. Also Embry wasn't public about their relationship like Jake was."

"So the kid actually looks like Embry, but because I've never seen Bella and Embry together I think the kid looks like Jake because I have seen them together?"

She sat her cup down on the table "I'm saying that if you took that kid and went somewhere where nobody know you guys everyone would think he was yours. The same goes for Jake, Embry, Quill, Sam, Jared, even Leah."

He dropped his head to the table between his arms "My head hurt"

Emily laughed "I'm sure it does. But like I said that is just a theory. Who knows you could be right with your super werewolf sperm theory. There is only one way to know for sure."

He looked up at her "What's that?"

She picked up her mug "Ask Bella."

He dropped his head back to the table. _Great, just fucking great._ _Anything else? Because he didn't already have enough to deal with, now he had to add questioning crazy, leech loving baby mamas to his list._

**Bella's POV**

Bella was sitting on her front porch when Paul's silver truck pulled up in front of her house. She stood up, adjusting her light gray sweater as she walked towards the truck. Charlie had told her what happen this morning. She wasn't sure what Paul saw, or what he did when he left but the feeling in her gut wasn't good. She opened the door and climb in the cab "Hey Paul"

"Swan" He didn't look at her, just pulled the truck out on the road and started for La Push.

"How'd you get stuck with babysitting duty?" He just shrugged, his eyes never leaving the road. So much for small talk. She sat there staring out the window, letting the silence wrap around her, but with every mile they got closer to their destination the air seemed to get thicker. She looked over at him. His face was pulled tight, his knuckles white from his grip on the steering wheel, but his eyes never left the road. She looked back down at her lap. Taking a deep breathe she decided it was time to face the music "So you know?"

"So it's true?"

"I guess that depends on what you think the truth is?"

"Their Embry's?"

She felt like she was drowning, she couldn't breathe, her heart was breaking. She looked over at Paul with blurry eyes "Yes"

The steering wheel cracked under his grip "What are their names?"

"Abigail Sophia and Andrew Embry Call"

"Their Twins?"

"Yes"

He sat there silently for what seemed like forever before he looked over at her for the first time "You should have told him"

She looked back at her lap "I tried, but the timing was never right."

"So you ran?"

"I was trying to protect him"

Out of nowhere he punched the dashboard, cracking the plastic "Fuck Swan, do you even realize what you've done"

The tears spilled over her eyes on to her cheek "I'm sorry. I was just trying to protect him"

'Protect him from what fatherhood? Having a family? Being happy? Or from the fact that he knocked up his best friend slash Alpha's dream girl?" He was staring at her now, she could feel his eyes, but she couldn't look at him. Because she didn't know what to say, she didn't have any answers to his questions. She always just told herself that she was protecting him never what she was protecting him from. "You know that boy would have fought for you, hell he would have ripped this whole damn reservation apart for you." He took a deep breath "He would of gave up everything, and he would have done it all with a smile on his face. The only thing that kid has ever wanted was a family. You took that from him. You took it and you didn't even give him a chance to fight for it."

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. Her voice a broken whisper "I never meant to hurt anybody. I just did what I thought was right" He looked back at the road. She watched him for a while, before turning her eyes back to her side of truck. She stared out the window, watching the trees fly by. She knew what Paul said was true. She knew now, she knew it back then. She wanted to turn back to Paul and tell him everything. All the things that happen that lead her to make the choice that she did. She wanted to force him to see it her way, to see that she had no other choice but she didn't. Instead she just sat there silently, staring out the window, watching as the trees turned into small houses.

Finally he broke the silence "Who all knows?"

She didn't look at him just stared out the window as they passed the La Push general store "You and Liz are the only ones who know the truth. Charlie has his suspicions I think but he has never said anything. Billy knows about the twins, but I think he thinks they are Jake's"

She watched as they passed first beach and some more house. Then Paul pulled the truck into the parking lot of a giant, old wooden building. She knew the post office was inside the building also Billy tribal chief office, so it made sense that this is where they would have council meetings. She wondered for a minute if this is what being numb felt like? She felt cold, empty, the fear she felt earlier was gone. She had nothing to fear because nothing anybody did to her was worse than what she did to herself. What she did to Embry. What she did to her kids. She put her hand on the handle "Thanks for the ride"

She went to push the door open when Paul grabbed her arm. She looked over her shoulder at him "If Billy knows then when you go in there they are most likely going to try an ambush you. Don't say anything and follow my lead"

She let go of the handle 'Why are you helping me, you hate me?"

"I don't hate you Swan. True you aren't one of my favorite people, but Call is." He moved his hand off her arm "Plus I have a feeling something else is going on and I intend to find out what that is. So you are just going to have to trust me"

"OK" She grabbed the handle of the door again. She would trust Paul, she would try it his way. Because her way sure as hell didn't work. She jumped out of the truck and fixed her sweater again.

"Swan, stand outside for a minute or two, then go straight to the bathroom." He must have noticed the questioning look on her face because before she could ask what he meant he answered "We don't want anybody to know you've been crying and remember stand your ground, follow my lead"

She nodded her head, slammed the door of the truck closed. She watch as Paul pulled the truck around the side of the building, and she prayed he knew what he was doing.

A/N: So there it is the mystery is solved. I hope it was everything you guys though it would be, and that you don't give up on this story now. There is still a lot more to go. If you understood what Emily was talking about with the whole werewolves blood lines/generation stuff awesome, if not don't worry. It will be explain in better and greater detail later on.


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer__: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Warning: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be drinking (alcohol), strong language, and sexual situations. Please remember that this is a story and does not reflect my personal views or opinions. _

A/N: Thanks for all the review/favorites/follows. Just a reminder there is no imprinting in this story, well besides the two already happily imprinted wolves (Jared and Sam). Sorry for the delay in updating my RL got crazy. Embry and Bella's personal thoughts are italics. Enjoy

**Embry's POV**

Embry took a deep breath and dropped his head into his hands. He tried to force his body to relax, he tried to focus on the stale air filling his lung. He took another deep breathe, his muscles were still tight, his teeth still clench, his wolf was still pacing, stalking, waiting, but for what he didn't know.

He let his body drop to the bench, his hand clenching. What the hell was wrong with him? He was never like this. He was clam. He was laid back. He was in tune with his other side, he understood his wolf. He gave it what it needed, what it wanted. They had an understanding, so why the hell was the thing tearing him apart? The wolf snarled, he ran his hair through his hair. _I don't know what you want_.

Great, now he was trying to talk to the animal locked in his body. Maybe he was finally losing it, maybe he was going crazy. A person can only take so much right? He already lost everything else, his father, his freedom, his friends, his mother, so it made sense that he would lose his mind to, right? The wolf snarled and started pacing again.

"You ok Boy?"

His eyes flew open as he jumped up from the bench. Old Quill was standing in front of him with a smile on his face. He shoved his hands into his pocket "Yes Sir"

Old Quill raised his eyebrow slightly "You sure about that?"

He stared into the old man's dark eyes, he knew. Of course he knew, he just snuck up on a werewolf. A werewolf that should have heard him enter the room, a werewolf that should have smelled him from miles away. Of course the old man noticed, nothing ever got past him. Nothing. He filled his lungs with the stale air now laced with Old Quills Tabaco and opened him mouth "I'm…"

The doors to the council room opened Jacob pushed his father's wheel chair through the opening. Billy reached up and laid his hand on top of Jacob's "I know it is strange to see Bella after all this time son, but it will get better I promise"

The growl fell from his lips before he could stop it Jacob's eyes shot up to him. He waiting for his wolf to back down like it always in alpha's presences, but it didn't. The wolf snarled again and he ground his morals together to keep the sound in. He still didn't understand what was happening to him but with the way his wolf was acting he knew it had something to do with Jake. He took a step closer towards his old friend 'What the hell did you do to me?"

Jake stepped in front of Billy's wheelchair and cross his arms over his chest 'Em"

"Don't Em me, you did this, what did you do?"

He watched as Jake's eye bleed to yellow "Embry sit down and clam down now"

His body crumbled under the weight of his alpha's order, the wolf struggled the stand back up. It was fighting with everything it had. It didn't want to back down, it wanted. He closed his eyes trying to focus on his wolf. If he could just figure out what it wanted, all this would be over. The wolf snarled again and tried to push him up again, it pushed against Jake's order. But he couldn't figure out why, every time he pushed he was met with nothing. _Emptiness._ _The wolf didn't want anything_? The wolf whined and started fighting harder. He took deep even breaths and dug his fingers into his thighs, focusing on the pain to push the wolf down.

Old Quill's voice echoed through the room "Now that everybody is here let's start" He heard people shuffling around him but he kept his eyes closed focusing on the pain. He just had to make it through this meeting then he could go blow off steam. He remembered some of his pack members saying that there wolves would get restless and start acting out. That had to be what was happening to him, they both just needed to blow of some steam, relieve some stress. The wolf snarled in his head again and tried to push him towards something, but all he saw was blackness. He dug his fingers harder into his thighs. The pain pushed the wolf back down as Old Quill spoke again "We're ready bring in the girl" The wolf froze, perking up at old Quill's words, he was overwhelmed with the feeling that everything was about to change.

**Bella's POV**

Bella stared at the huge wooden doors in front of her, her hands were trembling, her palms sweating. She could hear Paul move behind her but she couldn't take her eyes off the wooden doors. She tried to find the numbness she had in the truck but it was gone replaced with doubt, fear, regret, terror and a million other emotions. She couldn't do this, she couldn't go into that room and face them. She couldn't face their questions, their anger or their pain. She couldn't face him. Every insecurity, every doubt she had over the past four years slammed into her.

The wooden doors open and Seth slipped out into the hallway, he smiled at her "There ready for you" She couldn't speak so she just stood there watching as Paul walked over to Seth. He whispered something in the boys ear, dropped something into his hand. Seth nodded his head then disappeared behind the wooden doors.

Paul turned on her "You ready?" She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out so she just nodded her head "Well you better get ready because you don't have a choice"

Paul put his hand on her lower back and pushed her towards the wooden doors. She tried to fight against him but she was no match for his strength. He paused with his other hand on the door "Look you can either walked your pale skinny ass in there or I can throw you over my shoulder and carry you in there, but either way you are going in there."

She looked up at him, her mouth hanging open. She felt the anger from his words pushing down the other emotions "You're an asshole"

He just smirked at her "Hold on to that anger Swan you're going to need it" He pushed open the door open and pushed her through with his hand on her back.

Her eyes scanned the room. There were five rows of empty benches on each side of her facing the front of the room and another huge table. She glanced at the table at the head of the room, Old Quill and Billy were sitting in the middle, Sue and Sam were on their right and two older men she didn't know on their left. Billy smiled at her, but movement to the left of the room caught her eye. There was a bench against the wall facing the council table but away from the other benches. She froze, not even sure when she had started moving. They were all there, Jake, Leah, Jared, Seth, Quill and Embry. They were all staring at her, all of them but him.

He was sitting on the end of the bench, his eyes closed. His face was more defined than she remember, his hair was longer. The teenage boy she held on to in her memories for the past four years was gone. He was a man now, and he was beautiful. No he was beautiful before as a 6 ft. lanky teenager. Now he was 6ft something, toned, dark haired, copper skinned perfection. As she stood there staring at him she couldn't remember why she ran away, no sane women would run away from that. Paul pushed on her lower back, pulling her out of her trance

"Ms. Swan"

Her eyes flew back to the head table "Yes sir"

Old Quill smiled at her "I asked if you were ready dear?"

Her face felt like it was on fire "Ye... Yes Sir"

Paul pushed on her lower back again, she forced her feet to move forward and her eyes to stay locked on Old Quill. His stark white hair was in two long braids laying over his shoulder, his copper skin was wrinkled in every place possible but his eyes were soft, almost understanding. She stood at the edge of the last bench "There is no reason to be nervous child."

She shoved her hands in her pocket to keep them from shaking, her stomach churned and her mouth was dry. She took a step closer to the bench and noticed that Paul's warmth didn't follow her. She wanted to turn around and make sure that he was still there, she wanted to make sure that he was still on her side, because she needed someone on her side. Even if that someone was an arrogant asshole like Paul, but she was afraid to look away from the old man. So she stood as still as she could and nodded her head.

Old Quill looked down at the desk in front of him, then back up to her "Isabella Swan you are here to prove to the council that you are not a threat to the tribe as you were labeled. Is that correct?"

She nodded her head

"Please step forward child" She took a few steps forward and stopped at the table right in front of the old man "May I have your hand"

She pulled her hand out of her pocket and wiped it on her jeans before laying it on the table in front of her. She felt someone grabbed her hand but she forced her eyes to stay locked on the old mans. He seemed safe and understanding and that is what she needed. Her nerves were already shot and she wasn't sure if she could take anymore, so she stared at the safe old man. The old man in return stared back at her, he seemed to know that she needed something to ground her. He didn't look at any of the people she could hear moving around her, he didn't look down at whatever happening to her hand he just stared straight at her.

He seemed so clam, so in control and for a moment she wished she could be like him. Something cold touched the end of her finger, as she wished for inner peace like the man in front of her had. She wasn't sure how long she had been staring at him but she started to notice that her body was relaxing. Her hands weren't shaking anymore, her stomach wasn't churning, and her lungs were expanding without exploding. She felt a small prick on her finger and her eyes finally left the old mans. She looked down to see Sue pulling what looked like a small black pen away from her finger. A small drop of blood appeared on the tip of her finger, then was cover just a quickly by a small brown Band-Aid. She looked back up at the old man he was smiling at her.

"You did good child"

She felt herself smile back at him "Thank you Sir"

He nodded his head slightly "You may return to your spot by Mr. Lahote"

She turned away from the old man and took a step towards Paul who was standing at the end of the isle. She stopped when she reached him and turned back to face the old man and the rest of the council members. She felt like a huge weight was lifted of her shoulder, like everything was over. She wasn't scared or in fear, she felt free. For the first time in four years she felt free. She wasn't sure where the feeling came from or why it felt so familiar but she didn't question it.

She watched as Billy rolled his chair closer to the table and it hit her. She wasn't having a moment of piece, she remembered this feeling. _It had been a little over 4 years ago, she was sitting on the cold title of Angela's small yellow bathroom waiting for the timer on her phone to go off. It was the same feeling she had then, before everything in her life changed. _Everything in her life was going to change again, she realized she was holding out hope that Billy would keep his promise. But as she stood there staring at him she knew that he wasn't going to. The moment gone, the feeling of piece replaced with the fear and doubt from earlier, but underneath there was rage.

She stared at the man she had grew up with, the man that she always looked at like another father. A man she loved almost as much as she loved her own father. "How could you? You promised me"

Billy's face fell and she felt her body start to heat up. She felt the rage course through her body "Bella, dear I'm sorry but they need to know" His eyes flicked over to the left then back to her "They have a right to know"

She clenched her fist and felt a hand land on her shoulder "Hold it together Swan"

"Bullshit, you did this for you. You did this for your precious son, you didn't do this for them." She went to take a step forward but the hand on her shoulder stopped her, Billy flinched under her gaze "Well guess what Billy…."

Billy pulled his face back together and held up his hand cutting her off "Bella we just needed some answers"

"And I needed you to keep your word. Guess nobody is getting what they wanted today" She turned and looked up at Paul "take me home"

Paul nodded his head when a voice echoed through the room "Paul you will not move" She turned around and saw Jacob standing up staring at Paul.

"Are you freaking kidding me?"

Jake's eyes dropped from Paul to her "Answer their questions"

"Screw you" She turned towards the door, but Jake was in front of her before she could take a step

"Where are you going?"

She looked up at him "I'm leaving"

He crossed his arms over his chest "Not until you answer their questions"

She took a step towards him "What are you going to do Jacob I'm not one of your pack members you can order around. You can't make me stay" She moved to step around him when an agonizing howl erupted behind her. She spun on her heels to see Embry fall to his knees, his hands fisted in his hair. The room erupted into chaos as the pack and council rushed to his side, she could hear people screaming but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She could see the pain on his face, his muscles tight, his knuckles turning white from the grip he had on his hair. She took a step towards him when someone grabbed her arm.

She looked over to see Jacob holding her in place "Don't"

She tried to jerk her arm out of his hand but his grip was too tight. She looked up at him "Jacob let me go"

"He isn't safe"

She pulled her arm again "Let me go"

The sound of wood cracking caused the whole room to fall silence. Sam was standing up his eyes on Jacob "It's tearing him apart" Jacob just stood there his hand clenched around her arm "Either you stop it or I will"

Jacob took a deep breath and let her arm go "Fine" He took two steps away from her before stopping next to Paul "Do not let her leave until this is over "

Embry's POV

_Pain._

_Darkness._

_Emptiness._

He could hear people around him screaming, or maybe that was him. He wasn't sure, he was lost. He was surrounded by empty darkness. The wolf snarled and pushed again. The pain shot through his whole body. He heard the screaming again before he fell back into the darkness. The wolf whined and backed off. He could feel it pacing, looking. _Why was everything so dark?_ The wolf snarled and pushed forward again. The pain and the screaming returned, but the darkness cracked he caught a glimpse of brown before the pain became too much and the wolfed backed off whining.

"Embry open your eyes" His eyelids felt like sand paper as they opened against his will. He came face to face with Jacob. The wolf didn't even noticed that its alpha was standing in front of it, it didn't care. All it cared about was the blackness, the emptiness. It paced, looking, waiting for a way around it. Embry stared into the eyes of his old best friends, the closet thing he ever had to a real brother. A real family besides his mom. He stared into the face of the one person he use to trust with his life.

The wolf snarled and pushed, the pain shot through his body again. He grabbed his alphas arm "J…. please help me" The wolf pushed harder and the scream and darkness returned.

"I will Em but you have to stop fighting and open your eyes" The wolf backed off and he forced his eyes open. Jacob placed his hands on his cheeks and looked into his eyes "Embry I release you from Sam's alpha order"

At Jacobs words the blackness in his head disappeared, replaced with images of her. _Bella sitting in Jake's garage with the three of them laughing. Bella forcing him, Jake and Quill to do homework. Jake telling him how much he loved Bella. Bella and he walking on first beach. Bella showing up at his house. Bella holding his hand. Bella telling him she didn't like Jake. Bella kissing him. Bella crying when he told her they couldn't be friends anymore. Bella punching Paul. Bella learning the secret. Bella hugging him saying she missed him. Images of her in Jake's head. Jake and her snuggled up on Sam's couch._

His eyes locked on to her chocolate brown ones across the room_. Bella show up at his door crying, saying she didn't love Jake. She smelled and tasted like apples. Apples and cinnamon when she was turned on._ He stood up eyes still on her_. Images of her pale skin under him, her nails in his back. Her face when she came. He took a step toward her. Her snuggling into his chest, whispering she loved him._ "Bells?"

She took a step towards him but Paul grabbed her shoulder, holding her in place. He opened his mouth to tell Paul to let her go but Sue cut him off "I think this is more a personal matter than a pack matter"

He took a step towards her. _Bella crying and telling him everything was different. Her slamming a door in his face. Him begging her to just talk to him. Her calling saying she needed to talk to him. Her saying she was coming over. Jacob showing at his door telling him she was gone. _He took a step back away from her. She left him. He took another step back. She said she loved him, but she left him.

"I agree those pack members not directly connected may leave" He watched as Paul leaned over and whispered in Bella's ear. Leah, Jared, Seth and Quill all stood up silently and walked out of the room "Mr. Lahote?"

Bella turned towards Old Quill "He needs to stay Sir" He heard a growl but wasn't sure if it came from him or Jake.

"Is he directly connected to the matter at hand Ms. Swan?"

"No Sir, but if he leaves I leave"

"Very well Ms. Swan. Just so everybody is on the same page we are here to discuss that parental linage of your children correct."

He felt like someone punched him in the stomach as he turned on the Old man. _Bella had kids, what the hell?_ He thought this was about her leaving with the Cullen's. "Kids? I thought this was about her leaving with the fucking leeches?"

He glanced over at his Alpha who looked just as confused as he felt. He looked over at Paul who was standing there like nothing happened, Bella was looking at the ground. He looked back at the council members 'What the hell is going on?"

Old Quill slammed his cane against the ground "I know you kids have been through a lot today but this is still a council meeting. So you will sit down and treat it as such" The old man's eyes flicked to him before moving back to Jacob "Alpha I expect you to keep your pack under control"

"Yes Sir" he felt a hand land on his shoulder "Paul, Embry sit down"

He shrugged the hand of his shoulder and made his way back to the bench. He head was spinning and for a moment he wished for the pain to come back. The pain was easy, sure it hurt but it was still easier than this. He had some many questions running through his head that he wasn't sure what to do or where to start_. When did she have kids? Why did she leave? Why did she come back? Where were the Cullen's? Where they back? Why did Sam make him forget? Why was his wolf acting like he imprinted when he didn't? Why didn't he imprint? Did she still love him?_ He tried to clear his head but the question just came coming. He needed answers and the only way to get them was to sit his ass down and listen, so that is what he did.

He sat down on the end of the bench a far away from Jacob and Paul as he could get, he couldn't decide if he was pissed at them or not and right now his head was to full to care. He crossed his arms and looked up at Old Quil

Old Quill nodded his head "Now where were we" His eyes flicked to the front of the room and landed on Bella "Oh yes Ms. Swan"

Bella took a deep breath and looked up at Old Quill "Yes"

"We are hear about the parental linage of your children"

She crossed her arms on her chest "You said that already"

Billy leaned forward "Bella"

She held up her hand and the look she gave the Chief caused him to flinched "Don't you dare Bella me, I have nothing to say to you"

His wolf snarled, it wanted to defend her, protect her. He slammed it down, he had enough to deal with. He could not deal with a confused wolf right now. Old Quill laid his hand on Billy's shoulder before he could reply. Billy took a deep breath before answering in a softer voice "Bella, honey we just want to help you"

"If you wanted to help me you would have left it alone like I asked"

Billy sighed an looked over at Old Quill "Ms. Swan you have to tell us who the father is"

"I don't have to tell you shit"

Jared's grandpa took a shot "There are things within this tribe that only we can help them with"

Bella rolled her eyes "yeah the werewolf thing I know and IF that ever becomes an issue I know where to bring them"

Jacob jumped up from the bench "Damn it Bella just answer the question"

She turned on Jacob "Or what Jacob, what are you going to do?"

He smiled he couldn't help it, he didn't remember her being this feisty, but a part of him liked it. He felt someone staring at him he looked up and saw it was Sam. Sam raised his eyebrow then pointed his head at Bella. He sighed then dropped his head to his hand, he knew what Sam wanted. He wanted him to ask Bella. Sam was the only person he told about his and Bella relationship before she left. Sure the other knew, but Sam was the only person besides Bella and himself that knew everything. At the time he looked up to Sam, he confided in Sam about everything. After he pashed Sam became the father figure he never had but always wanted. He looked up, Sam's eyes were still locked on him.

He wanted to be pissed at the man for taking his memories, but as he sat there staring at him he realized he couldn't. Because Sam wasn't like Jake, Sam never ordered them around just because he could, he always had a good reason. He wiped his hands on his pants and looked over at Bella who was still staring daggers at Jake. One problem at a time, first he would deal with this, then he would deal with Sam. He stood up "Bells?"

Her chocolate eyes flew across the room and landed on him, his wolf purred "What?"

He tried to relax his face and look clam "Please answer the question"

He watched as her finger dug into her arm "Why? So they can try and force me to stay here? So they can steal my kid's future like they stole yours?"

He let his eyes rake over her body as he tried to come up with an answer, because she was right. If her kids were werewolves they would try and make her stay here. The only two people he could remember her being with was Jake and himself. So not only were her kid's werewolves, but they were baby Alpha werewolves. He had reached her eyes again, but couldn't remember anything about the rest of her. The thought of her having Jake's kid made him sick to his stomach, but there was nothing he could do about that.

He looked into her eyes and decided to just go with the truth, it always worked with her before "No Bells because I know what it like to grow up without a dad and it isn't something any kid should have to go through" Her arms dropped to her side, he was getting through so he kept going "Plus going through all the changes by yourself is not something I would wish on anybody either. So please answer just questions because they shouldn't have to suffer like I did." He took a deep breath "Nobody should."

He fought every instinct he had to run to her when he saw the tears slide down her cheek. She took a step back "Fine you want answer, I'll give you answers. Their names are Drew and Abby. They are three. There birthday is December 13. They were born a month early. He is three minutes older than her." She took another step back, her voice barley a whisper "He looks just like you but she has your personality" She wiped the tears from her cheek and looked at Paul "The rest is up to you I'm done" Then she turned and ran out of the room.

As soon as the wooden doors slammed shut he turned around and looked at the council members. Sam and Sue looked shocked or surprised he couldn't tell. Old man Cameron and Mr. Littlesea look indifferent, Billy looked pissed and confused. But it was Old Quill that held his attention, the old man had a sad smile on his face and he was staring right at him, like he was waiting for something. He opened his mouth to ask them what was wrong. Did they not get the answers they wanted? When Bella's words ghosted through his brain. _'He looks just like you.'_

'_He looks just like YOU' her eyes were on him. She was talking to him. He looked just like him. But that wasn't right. That couldn't be right, because that would mean… That would mean they were… No they were Jake's, they had to be_. _She was wrong._ He felt his knees slam into something hard. _But she was looking right at him 'He looks just like you but she has your personality.' She said you and your and she was looking right at him, not at Jake._

He saw Sue appear in front of him "Embry honey you need to breathe" She grabbed his hand. _Had she really said you, he looks like you._ "Embry honey come on I need you to breathe."

He tried to focus on Sue, he tried to follow her words but Bella's voice bounced around his mind. _'There three'… 'He looks just like you'… 'She has your personality'… 'Drew and Abby'_. He shook his head and looked over Sue shoulder. Old Quill was still sitting there, staring at him with the same look on his face. His voice cracked "m…mm…mine?"

He felt Sue's arm wrap around him "Honey I know it's a lot, but I need you to breathe and try to calm down. We can figure all this out. Just breathe Embry" His eye were locked on Old Quill, but he opened his mouth, sucking in gulps of air. The faint hit of apples hit the back of his throat and his wolf purred _mine._

He sucked in more air "How?"

Behind him Paul laughed "Well see Bro when a mommy and daddy love each other…"

Jake's growled cut through the room "Paul shut up"

_Oh God Jake_. He spun around and looked at his pack mate, his Alpha, his one-time best friend "J man… I'm sor…"

Jake held up his hand, his eyes focused on the Old men behind him "How did this happen. She isn't is imprint?"

He couldn't stand to sit there and look at the pain, anger, and disgust on Jake's face so he turned back towards the council members. Old Quill was still looking at him "Is your Alpha correct son, Bella is not your imprint?"

His wolf snarled in his head. _Mine_. His eyes flicked to Sam then back to Old Quill "I… I don't know sir"

Billy's eyebrow shot up "How do you not know. She is or she isn't?"

He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Billy "I… I mean my wolf wants her, says she is his." He ran hands on his pants "But there wasn't any of that gravity, life over shit… I mean stuff…Sir"

Billy looked over his shoulder "Jake?"

"He wants to protect her, care for her. She is important to him, like Emily and Kim. But it's stronger, the pull to her is stronger than it is towards Kim or Emily"

Embry's eye flashed yellow, he turned on his alpha and snarled. His wolf saw the alpha as a threat. A threat to his mate, a threat to his pups. He tried to push the wolf down but it wouldn't budge. He snarled again "Mine"

Jake just stood there staring at him. He didn't move, he didn't say anything he just stood there staring at him. He didn't submit, he didn't attack he just stood there. Sue's voice tried to cut through the tension 'Embry when were you and Bella together?" He tried to turn to look at her, but his wolf wouldn't let him back down

"Jacob" He watched as Jake's eyes flashed over his shoulder then back to him, but still his alpha just stood there.

Jake switched his weight from one foot to another, but never took his eyes off him "They got together in February Sue and were together until she left in June"

He snarled again "mine"

Jake crossed his arms over his chest "Yeah, sure sure whatever" Then he turned and headed for the door.

As soon as Jake turned his back on him his wolf retreated, the threat was gone "J…J man… Jake" But Jake didn't stop he disappeared through the wooden doors without a backwards glance. He took a defat sigh and turned back towards the council, but he couldn't help to notice how the air didn't smell like apples anymore.

Sue looked up at Old Quill "Based on what Bella said about their birthdays and the fact that they were born a month early. Makes there conception date in early April."

Old Quill looked at him "You and Ms. Swan were together at that time right?"

"Yes Sir" _Was he really here? Was this really happening? This couldn't be happening, not to him. He wasn't supposed to be here. They were supposed to be Jake's. But they weren't Jake's, they were his. He had kids. He had twins. He felt sick._

Old Quill look over his shoulder 'And you can confirm what Ms. Swan?"

He heard Paul's voice behind him "Sure can"

He felt someone grab his arm and he looked down to see Billy sitting right next to him. "I will speak with Jake. It's going to be ok son" Billy let his hand fall back to his side and moved past him "Paul"

"Got it Chief, Bella Duty"

The wooden door shut again, he was really starting to hate that door. He didn't turn around he just stood there not looking at anything or anyone. He felt a hand land on his shoulder, but he wasn't sure who it was. Old Quill stopped in front of him and he forced his eyes to focus on the old man "I know you have a lot of questions and I wish I had the answers for you but sadly I don't." The old man stepped around him "When I do have the answers I will find you until then I suggest you do the best you can with the information you have"

Once again he was alone. He heard his laugh bounce around the empty room. He had a mother, eight pack members, a pissed of Alpha, a delusional animal side, a fucked up imprint, and twins but he was standing there completely alone. He leaned forward empting the contents of his stomach. _Completely and utterly alone._


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer__: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Warning: This story is rated M for a reason. There will be drinking (alcohol), strong language, and sexual situations. I have also been told that this story can be very emotional dark and/or very sad. Please remember that this is a story and does not reflect my personal views or opinions. I also don't want or intend to make anyone upset. _

**Bella's POV**

Bella struggled pulling the large black suit case across the living room floor. "Iz, what the hell happen?" She ignored her friend, pulled with everything she had left and finally reached the front door. "Will you stop and tell me what the hell happened?" She tugged the black case on to the front porch, her foot slipped on the wet floor. She watched as the suit case fell down the front steps, hitting each one before landing on the sidewalk with a loud thud. That was the story of her life, everything fell apart slowly, and piece by tiny piece, until it all came crashing down around her. "ISABELLA!"

She spun around "WHAT!?"

Liz was standing in the door way her arms crossed her chest "What the hell happen?"

She pushed her hair out of her face "I can't…Not right now. Just please call me dad and have him bring the twins home"

She turned and headed down the steps, she grabbed the handle on the suit case and started pulling it across the yard towards the car trying not to think about him, but it was useless she couldn't get the images out of her head. The look of love and admiration when he first said her name, the pain and anger when he stepped away from her, then the nothingness. The empty cold voice he talked to her with, the blank un-phased look on his face when she told him about the twins. She didn't expect that, she expected pain, anger, rage, those she could have dealt with, but she couldn't deal with nothing. She couldn't deal with coldness, blackness, nothingness because that meant he didn't care. She always though he would at least care. She stopped, pushing the hair out of her face again, when she felt heat behind her.

"Seth, if you touch me I swear I will find a way to hurt you" Seth put his hands in front of him and walked back to lean on Paul's truck. She pulled the black suit case the last few feet to the truck of the car, freezing when she saw the little blue and pink backpacks. They laid there in the trunk of the car mocking her, reminding her of everything that was wrong. They would never know him. She knew if she changed her mind, if she stayed, they would met him. But they would never know him, not like she knew him. They would met the new cold hard dark him. They would never see his smile, or his dimples, or hear his goofy jokes. They wouldn't get the shy, sweet, dorky kid she fell in love with, they would get the cold, empty man he was now. They would never know their dad, they would just get to meet their father.

She leaned her body against the trunk of the car. Did she do that to him? It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be happy, not cold and empty. He was supposed to meet his soul mate. Then it hit her, he wasn't cold and empty. He just didn't love her anymore, he couldn't love her because he had meet her, his soul mate. His imprint. He looked at her with nothing because she was nothing. Her finger nails dug into her arm, the tears slipped over her cheeks. He didn't get upset, he didn't get angry because they didn't mean anything to him. He had his imprint now, they were nothing. She was nothing.

"Your dad said they are eating lunch. He will bring them when they are done" She nodded her head because she couldn't speak. "Look I get you don't want to talk about it, but are you sure this is the right choice"

Was she sure? She didn't know, she didn't know anything anymore. She always told people that this day would never happen, that she never thought about it. But she did, every day for the past four years she thought about it, she dreamed about it. She was never delusion enough to think that he would welcome her back with open arms, no matter how much she hoped he would. But she never though he wouldn't care about them. She always though he would want to meet them, get to know them. Jake's words drifted through her head _"The imprint becomes are everything, we breathe for them, we live for them. No one else matters"_ She always knew his imprint would take her place, but she never though she would take theirs. She pushed her hair from her face and wiped her cheek "I…I don't know"

She stared at her feet, she couldn't look at her friend, she couldn't look at Seth, and she could not look at those little backpacks. Liz hand landed on her shoulder "Well you know I will support you with whatever you decide to do, but for the record I think leaving is a bad idea"

"Listen to beach fun Barbie, Swan"

"Who the hell are you calling Barbie?"

She looked up to see Paul smirk at Liz "You, sweetheart"

She couldn't deal with this right now. She pushed herself off the car just as Liz was about to open her mouth "Liz, can you give us a minute?" Liz's eye bounced back and forth between her and Paul before she threw her hands up and walked back towards the house. She didn't turn around she didn't move, she just stood there "What do you want Paul?"

He laughed "Nothing, just doing my job"

She turned and looked at him "Then why are you here?"

He threw his arms up "Why does nobody understand this whole escort thing" Before she could answer he turned around to Seth. He ran his hand through Seth's hair "Thanks a bunch pup but I got it from here. Take the truck and head back" Seth shrugged out from Paul's hand, glaring. She turned around and tried to figure out the best way to get the suit case in the trunk. The suit case was safe, the suit case was easy. This was a problem she could solve, maybe. "What are you doing Swan?"

She heard the gravel crunch letting her know that Seth was gone. She tried to pick the suit case up from the bottom, but she couldn't get it off the ground "What does it look like?"

"Looks like your packing"

She tried to pull the suit case up by the handle, but it didn't budge. Why did everything have to be so damn hard? "Wow you do have a brain" She tried to push up with her foot and pull up with her arms. The suit case slide up the back of the car, got stuck on the lip of the truck and fell back to the ground.

He laughed "And failing"

She turned and looked at him "What do you want Paul?"

He shrugged "Told ya, just doing my job"

She turned back towards the trunk, the backpacks still mocking her "I don't need an escort anymore. We are leaving"

"No you're not"

She ignored him as she tried to lift the suit case into the car again, her hand jerked off the handle as he tried to put his on top of hers. With the flick of his wrist the suit case flew across the yard and landed on the sidewalk by the porch again. "What the hell Paul?"

He shrugged "I told you, you aren't leaving"

She glared at him "Yes we are"

He looked down at his hand like he was bored "You really want to start this battle we can, but I promise you I will win"

"Screw you"

He laughed, flashing her his smirk "Don't think that will solve your problems either"

"Why are you such an arrogant asshole?"

He raised his eyebrows at her "Why are you such a self-centered bitch?"

She threw her hands up. This was pointless, she didn't have the time or energy for this. She started heading across the yard towards the suit case when the blue and pink book-bag flew passed her head, landing on the front porch. She turned around, Paul was leaning against the car trademark smirk on his face again "What are you doing?"

"I told ya Swan I'll win"

She turned stomped forward grabbed the backpack and stomped back to the car throwing them in trunk. He never moved, his smirk never faltered. She turned and started heading back for the suit case when the back packs flew through the air again. "Damn it Paul STOP"

"Stop trying to leave"

She turned on him "What the hell is your problem?"

He slammed the trunk closed and started towards her "Abusive father, alcoholic mother. Yours?"

She just stood there staring at him, mouth hanging open. This is why you could never win with Paul, he had no boundaries, no cares, and no limits. Must be nice. He stopped a few feet in front of her and raised his eyebrow. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before turning her back on him. He grabbed her arm before she could take off "Damn it Swan stop running"

She jerked her arm out of his grip "You were there. How am I supposed to stay after that?"

"So you're running because you didn't get the reaction you wanted?" He stepped in front of her again.

"No I'm leaving to protect my kids"

"Get a new excuse Swan that one is old"

Fine he wanted a new excuse, she would give him one. Only it wasn't an excuse it was the truth. She took a step away from him "You saw him. He was cold." She wrapped her arms around herself "He doesn't care"

He rolled his eyes "What did you expect a damn parade? You ripped his heart out, then show up four years later out of the blue and tell him he has twins. He is entitled to moment or two to figure his shit out"

She took another step back "He doesn't need us he has her"

"Has who?"

"Her. He has her. His stupid soul mate. He doesn't care about us. He doesn't need us and I am not going to let him hurt my kids because his stupid soul mate is more important."

He took a step towards her as the tears fell down her cheeks "If you would have just asked instead of throwing a temper tantrum I could have told you he doesn't have a stupid soul mate as you say"

She stared at Paul. He had to be wrong he had to have a soul mate. He had to because the only other reason he would be so cold and empty would be because of her. Because she left him. Because she broke him. She tried to wipe her face but the tears were falling to fast "Doesn't…. Doesn't change anything" This couldn't be all her fault, was it?

"So that is what this is all about… imprinting"

She looked up at him "What the hell did you think this was about?"

He shrugged "We all…" He ran a hand through his hair "We always though it was because you loved Jake or the leech more than Em"

She shook her head "What no" She opened and closed her mouth a few times trying to find the right words "It's always been him" She looked down at her feet and whispered "It'll always be him"

His warm hands grabbed her face and pulled it up to look at him "Then grow up. Stop running away and fight for him"

**Embry's POV**

_He stood in front of the door, the rain pelting him in the back. He pushed the wet hair off his forehead and knocked again._

_Then he heard her "I'm coming" The door opened slowly. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun on her head, she was wearing his LPHS sweatshirt, her skin was paler than normal and her eyes were tired. She was beautiful. "Em, what's wrong why are you here?"_

_That's when he smelt it, buried under her usual scent of apples was a muskier scent, a scent he would know anywhere. Pack. She smelled like pack. He just stared at her "Why?"_

_She stepped closer to him but he took a step back "Why what Em?"_

_His hands stared shaking and he stepped back into the rain "You lied to me. You told me you needed time. You needed space to think"_

_She stepped out on the porch "What are you talking about Embry, I didn't lie to you. I do need space, there is a lot going on. I just need time to think" Her hands wrapped around her stomach._

_He could feel his whole body shaking "STOP LYING" She jumped back, her hand flying to her mouth "I can smell him. I can fucking smell him Bella" He took another step back "You promised. You swore to me. Then as soon as it gets hard you run back to him."_

_She took a step towards him "Em I promise it's not what you think"_

_He started backing away "I don't want to hear anymore lies Bella, I Know exactly what it is." He turned towards the tree, but he couldn't stop himself from looking back at her one last time._

_Her hand was reaching out for him, tears running down her face. "Embry please stop just listen to me" He turned and ran into the forest._

The sound of a floor board creaking pulled him out of his memory. He wasn't sure how long he had been laying in the same spot or how many times he had played the same memory over and over in his head but he kept coming to the same conclusion. If he would of just listen would thing be different? Would they have made it? Would they be together? Would he have the family he always wanted? Because even though he didn't know it then, he knew it now. He wasn't smelling Jake like he though, he was smelling his kids.

He heard the door of his room squeak. Kids. He had kids. The though still didn't seem right to him. Here he was supposed to be this badass mythical vampire killing werewolf and he didn't even know he had kids. Isn't that something he should of known? He felt the person stop at the end of the bed but he didn't open his eyes "What Leah?"

His wolf purred at the closeness of its pack mate. It wasn't a bell purr but it still purred. Great a few minutes with her in a council room and he was naming his body functions after her. He was so screwed. Just one more things he could add to his list of shit that didn't make sense. He rubbed his hands over his face then opened his eyes and looked at his pack mate. She raised her eyebrow "I said I heard what happen"

He leaned up on his elbow "How?"

She shrugged "Jake"

"He talked to you?"

She threw her head back laughing "You know better than that" She looked back at him "He phased while I was on patrol." She shrugged "He isn't as good as blocking me out as the rest of you"

He flopped back down on to his bed "Fucking awesome. Everybody knows now"

"Hey I didn't say anything"

He looked back at her "You know he told his BFF Quil"

She laughed "Yeah your right everybody knows"

He closed his eyes and tried to figure out why he was so pissed that everyone knew. Wasn't he supposed to be happy about this? People were happy when they had kids right? He felt her nudge his legs. "What?"

"How are you?"

He looked up at her "Me, I'm great."

She laughed "Yeah I can tell your all rainbows, sunshine and puppies" He cringed at her word "Sorry, to soon"

"Yeah just a little bit"

"Seriously Em How are you?"

"I don't know. I'm pissed, confused, angry, sad, happy, and maybe a little relieved."

She laid her hand on his leg, trying to offer him what comfort she could "I'm sure that is normal. Do you believe her?"

His wolf snarled at its pack mate "Yeah I do. I can't explain it but my wolf knows there his…mine whatever" He looked up at her hoping she wasn't looking at him like he was crazy, because he felt crazy, but her eyes were closed.

"Is she your imprint?"

"Shit Le I don't think so, but I don't know" He rubbed his hands over his face then let them drop to his lap. Leah was looking at him, but her face was soft, her eyes concerned "My wolf acts towards her the same way Jared's does to Kim but there wasn't any of that Earth moving, gravity shifting shit. Plus Sam's alpha order held and imprints trump alpha orders"

"Maybe he acts like that because she is their mother and he knows they need her so he wants to protect her"

He shrugged his shoulder "Maybe, but what about the whole can't impregnate anyone but your imprint shit the council told us"

"Well if it wasn't for the fact that you and Paul have proven that theory right more times than I want to know I would say the council is wrong" She stood up and moved up to sit down beside him, reaching over to grabbed his hand "More importantly what are you going to do?"

He looked over at her "There is a part of me that wants to run over there tell her I still love her and be a family. The four of us living happily ever after. That's crazy right?"

"Do you still love her?"

He looked down at his lap "I don't know. I feel like I do, but I have all this shit in my head now. I mean this morning I didn't know anything but her name and her face and now I know everything about her, and I have all these feelings for her" He closed his eyes and slammed his head back against the wall "It's just so fucking confusing. I don't know what to think or feel or do or say. I don't know what his feelings are or what are mine anymore. I just don't know."

"Ok well let's forget about Bella"

He could stop the snarl from escaping, Leah raised her eyebrows "Sorry my wolf didn't like that and I have no control over him anymore either. I'm losing it Le"

She wrapped her arm around his shoulder "Come here" She pulled him into her body, his head resting on her shoulder. The feel of her body relaxed him, and his wolf. "Better" He nodded his head and she started running her fingers through his hair, his wolf purred.

He laid there wrapped up in Leah's heat, her smell surrounding him and he couldn't help but think of what a great Alpha female she was, or was supposed to be. She was fierce and strong but motherly and caring. She was always there for them no matter what. He couldn't understand why Jake wouldn't accept her, but he didn't understand anything Jake did anymore. He snuggled deeper into her side and whispered "I want to meet them"

She laid her other hand on his arm "Ok I will get them down here"

"What about Jake"

"I'll take care of Jake"

"Thanks Le" He wrapped his hands around her middle when she started laughing. He pulled back looking up at her "What?"

She started laughing harder "Covens of angry vampires we can handle. Baby Mama Drama and we all tuck tail and run"

He couldn't help it he flopped back on the bed next to her and laughed. He laughed so hard his side started to hurt. He wasn't sure why because what Leah said wasn't that funny. Maybe it was stress, or maybe had finally fallen over the edge. Finally lost it, whatever it was. But he could not stop laughing.

**Bella's POV**

Bella sat at the kitchen table, her knees pulled up to her chest a mug of coffee resting in her hands. The whole house was dark expect for the light over the stove, and that was just enough light for her to see the picture siting on the table in front of her. A picture of her and Embry when they were happy, before she left, before everything changed. Her eyes took in the black frame with "_In a Galaxy far far away_" in silver across the bottom, the two foam stickers of Star Wars ship's she couldn't remember in the top corners. Their faces pushed together with his stuffed Yoda under their chins. The way his hair fell perfectly across his forehead, his perfectly symmetrical dimples. His bottom lip that was slightly bigger than his top lip but not too much bigger. Then her eyes landed on his eyes, his deep dark eyes. They were full of light, happiness, love and hope. They were so different from the cold, empty, uncaring eyes today. It amazed her that even though they were the same eyes on the same person they could look so different.

She knew they said eyes were the windows to the soul, did that mean Embry's soul was cold and dark now? If so, what happen to the boy from the picture, the boy that was so full of light and hope? Did she really do that much damage when she left? Was the disappearance of the boy from the picture all her fault?

She looked up as Liz walked into the dark kitchen, a batman towel wrapped around her head. She sat her mug down on the table "Drew is going to be mad at you"

Liz looked over her shoulder "Why, I thought we had moved on from batman to Dinosaurs Train"

She laughed "We went to back to batman"

Liz grabbed her mug of coffee and sat down in the seat across form her "I'll have it washed, dried and put back before he notices" She picked up her mug and took a drink as Liz reached across the table and grabbed the frame, she watched as her friends eyes scanned over the picture then looked back up at her "So that's him?"

She sat her mug back on the table "Yeah that's Embry"

Liz sat the frame back on the table "Drew does look just like him"

"Yeah but everybody down there thinks he looks like Jake"

"Jake?"

"The one that was here the first night"

"The asshole" Liz nodded her head and looked back down at the picture "Yeah I guess baby daddy and the asshole kind of favor each other but Drew is the splitting image of his daddy… so they are nuts"

She laughed "What's with the nick names?"

Liz shrugged "You've been talking about these people for 4 years but I never knew what they looked like so I made up faces in my head. But their faces don't match my faces so I am giving them nicknames so I don't get confused"

She just stared at her friend "You're not right sometimes"

Liz turned the picture frame around "Me? I'm not the closet Star Wars nerd" Then she lifted her mug to her mouth.

She stared at him, at the boy she missed so much it physical hurt. She could remember him joking and telling her that she was his second love, or how he was going to have to leave her one day for princess Leia or whatever her name was. She looked back up at her friend "That was him, not me"

"Good because I never understood that stuff"

She laughed "Don't tell him that he will make you sit for hours as he explains the meaning of it all. Then make you watch the movies while…" She paused when she realized what she was doing. She was talking about the boy from the picture, not the man from today. The man she knew nothing about. She dropped her eyes to the table "Well at least he used to be like that"

Liz reached over grabbing her hand "That bad hum?"

She looked up at her friend as she squeezed her hand "It was horrible. He was so cold. Then when….when I told him… nothing. He just stood there like I told him it was raining or something, not that he has kids"

Liz squeezed her hand back "Maybe he was just in shock or something. I'm sure he cares."

She pulled her hand back and wiped her cheeks, she was tired of crying "That's what Paul said"

"Paul?" Then Liz's eyes widen "that's the arrogant hot one right? Strange the hot ones usually aren't smart"

She laughed "Arrogant yes, hot I'm not so sure"

Liz's mouth fell open "Come on girl you cannot tell me you didn't notice that smile or those abs" She raised her eyebrows

She nodded her head before dropping her feet to the floor "That smile is known as Paul's smirk and it is only one of the many things he is famous for in La Push" She took a sip of her coffee "An as for the abs I guess I'm just use to it"

Liz stared at her like she had ten head "How…What?"

She laughed "The pack spend a lot of time with their shirts off" She shrugged "you get used to it"

"Pack? That's the tribal police things right?" She nodded her head, but Liz just waved her hand in the air "Ok but back to the abs. Iz you don't just get use to something like that. I mean there has to be something wrong if you just get used to it. You can't not notice men like that"

She started laughing "You'll see tomorrow"

That seemed to pull Liz out of her abs induced haze "Yeah, so where are we going tomorrow?"

"Sam's house"

"He's like the chief of police or something right"

She looked down at her empty mug "He used to be but I think Jake is in charge now" She stood up and headed towards the coffee pot on the corner.

"Who in their right mind would put him in charge?"

She laughed "He is the chief's son, so it is like his birthright" She poured the coffee into her cup. She had forgotten how hard it was to explain the pack life to someone who didn't know about the pack. She had talked to Liz before about the guys before but it had always been about who they were, or telling her stories but it seemed different now. More important that she explained everything instead of leaving holes in her stories like she used to.

"Assholes always have all the power"

She grabbed her mug and walked back to the table "You sure are full of stereo- types tonight"

Liz took a drink, then shrugged her shoulders "Those aren't stereo-types. They are opines I have formed after many years of research"

She laughed "If you say so"

Liz clasped her hands in front of her on the table" So let's make sure I have this right before tomorrow." She nodded her head and blew on her coffee "So you, ass, and BD were all…"

She held up her hand "Wait. Who is BD?"

Liz rolled her eyes "Baby Daddy. Come on Iz focus"

She laughed "You know it would be a lot easier if you just used their names"

"What's the fun in that?" Liz raised her eyebrows 'Fine. Whatever. Ok, so you, Jake and Embry were friends before they joined the force. Then after they were on the force you started dating Jake"

Bella held her hand up "You forgot Paul"

Liz's hands flew up off the table "You dated Paul? You never told me you dated Paul"

"What! No I didn't date Paul. I punched Paul"

Liz dropped her hands back to the table "Oh Ok. SO friends. Then you punch Paul, which I still don't get by the way, but whatever. Then you started doing Jake"

"Dating. Dating Jake"

Liz waved her hand through the air "Whatever, same thing. Anyways, then they capture some weird stalker chick, because of your old boyfriend. Which they hate." She nodded her head and motioned for her to continue "Then you left Jake for Embry. Got yourself knocked up. Had a fight with Embry about you cheating on him with Jake. Then skipped town. Oh and Jake is Embry's boss" Liz stared at her with a triumph look on her face. Like she was expect a prize or something for getting it right.

She took a drink of her mug then seat it on the table "Pretty much, you got it all expect for the huge fight I got into with Jake the night I left. Oh and that nobody knew I went and got myself knocked up" She glared at her friend. Liz dropped her head to the table and mumbled something she couldn't hear "What?"

Liz looked up at her "Brownies, we are going to need brownies."

She felt her eyebrows shoot up to her hair line "What…? Brownies? Why…?"

Liz leaned back in her chair as she started listing reasons off on her fingers "We have baby drama. Break-up drama. Cheating drama. Ex-lover drama. Friend Drama. Work place drama. Possibly girlfriend drama. An extremely attractive men drama. We are going to need chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate."

She just sat there staring at her friend. She never thought about it like, she never sat back and actually though about all the different problems she would be facing. It was all just one big problem in her mind, but when you broke it down piece by piece it seemed so much bigger. So much harder. She took a sip of her coffee. Tomorrow was going to be hell.

A/N: I know Leah is OOC but I needed her to be this way to fit the story, but don't worry she will still have some "normal Leah" moments to. Also to any Star wars fans out there please forgive me about the limited amount of knowledge of the series I have in this chapter. I wrote this scene the way I saw it in my head.


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